{"id":241802,"date":"2025-07-06T04:26:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T04:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241802\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T04:26:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T04:26:20","slug":"student-travels-to-edinburgh-for-brain-tumour-treatment-while-completing-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/241802\/","title":{"rendered":"Student travels to Edinburgh for brain tumour treatment while completing degree"},"content":{"rendered":"

A student <\/a>who was diagnosed with a brain tumour <\/a>in the midst of her university journey has spoken of her determination.<\/p>\n

Abbie Coull, 23, was told she had a non-malignant tumour in 2021. She was only a year into an undergraduate law degree at Robert Gordon’s University when her health <\/a>declined.<\/p>\n

She was only 17-years-old at the time, and had to start travelling to Edinburgh for radiation therapy. Despite the difficult circumstances, Abbie persisted and is proud to have completed her studies.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/b> Dad of Scottish boy with terminal illness forced to sell family home amid call for help<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/b> West Lothian zoo shares adorable images of their newest animals after ‘baby boom’<\/a><\/p>\n

Abbie explained to Aberdeen Live: “In 2021, I found out that the non-malignant brain tumour I had surgically removed prior to the commencement of my studies was growing back.<\/p>\n

“This meant I had to undergo radiation therapy at the same time as my second year exams. I struggled with fatigue for an extended period following this and on three occasions sat online exams the same day as I received radiation treatment.”<\/p>\n

It was her determination and resilience that saw her arrive at the University of Aberdeen to complete her Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP) last year. Abbie continued: “Even with all the challenges I have faced, I was over the moon to have managed to obtain a first class law degree. I’ve continued on to the University of Aberdeen to study my DPLP from which I have now graduated with a Distinction.<\/p>\n

“I faced so many challenges as a result of my craniotomy at 17, including facial nerve damage, balance issues and minor damage to my optical nerve. I am quite a determined individual and when I put my mind to something I like to see it through. I would always keep in my mind that I was not the only student going through a hard time and that things happen, but as long as I was capable I wanted to see it through.”<\/p>\n

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It’s not the first time she’s had a major health scare. Abbie added: “When I was 12 years old I had spinal fusion surgery to treat my scoliosis. I remember this as a hard time as I was not allowed to do any contact sports for two years and I missed some school.<\/p>\n

“From that experience I know things get better and I’ve tried hard to keep my grades high when things were tough before, so I would have regretted it if I did not try my best to push through. I was also motivated to continue my studies to keep looking ahead to the future and in a way, it was a distraction from what was going on around me. It was mentally tough knowing that the tumour grew back and it takes three years to know if the radiation worked, so I used my studies to also keep my mind busy which helped me get through.”<\/p>\n

Reflecting on her time at the University of Aberdeen, Abbie is proud of how far she’s come and is excited for what the future holds.
She said: “I would say the highlight of studying at the University of Aberdeen was the people I have met and the lovely atmosphere there is here.<\/p>\n

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“From my first day here when there was the Freshers Fair, there was so much going on and a buzz which I have really enjoyed. And since I started at the University, my health has been great. The radiation was a success and did what it was supposed to do which was stop the tumour growing any more.<\/p>\n

“I get an MRI scan every year to check on the tumour and it continues to remain stable. When it comes to the scan every year I always get a bit nervous in case it’s not great news but as the years go by it is easier to wait for the results.”<\/p>\n

Abbie has now joined a local law firm and will begin her career as a trainee solicitor this summer. She has some words of encouragement for anyone else struggling with their health during their studies: “I would urge anyone going through a similar journey to me to reach out.<\/p>\n

“Without the support of University councillors and my parents who both took time off work to drive me back and forth to Edinburgh for radiation while I would sleep or study in the car, there is no way I would have made it to graduation. The support of my family and friends has really been the best motivation, they were always there to listen when times were tough.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to share my story so that anyone who is struggling or going through a tough time will know that things will get easier and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A student who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in the midst of her university journey has spoken…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[94028,748,1102,4884,94025,94027,712,16,15,94026],"class_list":{"0":"post-241802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-abbie-coull","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-edinburgh","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-radiation-therapy","13":"tag-robert-gordons-university","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}