'I had stage four cancer at 14, now I'm a doctor'
Ellie Waters-Barnes, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with stage four cancer at age 14, has graduated from Keele University as a doctor. She credits her personal experience with intensive treatment for giving her a unique perspective and empathy for her future patients.
Why it matters
This story highlights the resilience of cancer survivors and the potential for personal trauma to shape professional empathy in the medical field.
Image caption, Dr Ellie Waters-Barnes has just graduated from Keele University in Staffordshire
A young woman who was inspired to pursue a degree in medicine after facing cancer herself as a teenager is celebrating graduating from university.
Diagnosed with an aggressive soft tissue cancer at the age of 14, Ellie Waters-Barnes was given a one in five chance of survival.
But the experience helped forge her career path and she said had given her a "superpower" that not every medic was able to tap in to.
Now 25 and still struggling in some respects physically, she has just graduated from Keele University and said her own experience of undergoing treatment gave her a better understanding what patients were going through.
She said news that she had stage four alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in September 2015 turned her life upside down.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in