An inspirational student with a terminal condition has “triumphed over adversity” by graduating from The University of Manchester this week.
Laura Nuttall, from Barrowford in Lancashire, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme – an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer – after a routine eye test back in 2018, and after she was found to have eight tumours, she was told she only had around 12 months to live.
Laura’s shock diagnosis led to her leaving university in London to concentrate on treatment and ticking items off her bucket list.
She bravely endured a craniotomy to remove the largest tumour, and then started a gruelling programme of radiotherapy and chemotherapy – however, her dedicated family then discovered an innovative new treatment available in Germany, and with the help of donations from friends, family and an online fundraiser, Laura was able to start the immunotherapy.
She had to travel to Cologne every six weeks, but she responded so well to treatment that she was able to restart her studies – this time a little closer to home at The University of Manchester.
Despite having to travel for the gruelling treatment – which was made even more difficult by COVID-19 travel restrictions – and on top of undergoing more surgery in March and December, working as an ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity, and helping out in her community, Laura somehow continued to excel in her studies.
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And earlier this week, she finally graduated.
Laura graduated with a 2:1 degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from The University of Manchester, and was able to celebrate with her mum Nicola, sister Grace, and dad Mark proudly watching on.
“Laura was told that she had a life expectancy of around a year and wouldn’t be going back to university at all, so to see her graduate is just incredible,” Laura’s mum Nicola explained.
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“I know how hard she’s had to work to achieve her degree alongside her chemotherapy, surgery and treatment, so this day is a real celebration of her tenacity.
“We really couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Laura’s tutors at The University of Manchester have praised her dedication.
“I have met very few people with such a determination to live their life to the full,” said Professor Jackie Carter – who met and bonded with Laura as she also has a child with an incurable brain tumour.
“Unlike most of my students who are wondering what to do with their futures, Laura quite literally doesn’t know what hers holds – but she’s getting on with it, and doing it all with a spirit that shines through her every pore when you meet her.”
Speaking on her graduation day, and reflecting on what it took to get to this moment, Laura said: “I don’t think I would have been able to achieve my degree without the help and support provided by The University of Manchester, especially the student welfare officers.
“In my first year, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it to graduation – never mind get a 2:1.”
The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far: