SQA exam results: Moray pupil Abbie Howie (17) passes two Advanced Highers while battling bone cancer
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A MORAY pupil has defied the odds to pass two Advanced Higher exams while battling bone cancer.
Abbie Howie (17), from Elgin High School, achieved Cs in Advanced Higher Biology and Chemistry, as well as passing Higher Physics, despite missing months of school while undergoing chemotherapy.
Abbie was diagnosed with bone cancer in November 2022. She said: “I was diagnosed with a bone cancer called osteosarcoma so I’ve been off a lot due to chemotherapy treatments.
“I was in hospital at the end of November last year because my tumour ended up breaking my leg. I had to stay in hospital until my leg was amputated in March. Because of this, I wasn’t able to attend school.”
Despite suffering from such adversity, Abbie was still able to pass her exams due to sheer determination and support from teachers and pupils.
She added: “I was able to email a teacher at any time if I wanted to and I was guaranteed a response pretty quickly. I got all the books that I needed and had resources online, my friends would also bring me stuff from class.”
Abbie is now set to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, where she hopes that she can help animals in need.
She said: “I have always loved animals and I’ve wanted to be a vet on and off since I was quite small. During the pandemic, I decided that’s what I wanted to do for a career.
“I’ve always grown up with dogs around the house and I’d just love to help animals.”
On a successful day for Elgin High overall, S5 pupil Darcey Taylor (16) achieved 5As and 2Bs in her national 5s. She hopes to study medicine at university.
“It sounds very cliché but I've always wanted to help people,” she said. “I used to want to be an environmental activist but then I started watching medical documentaries and thought I’d really want to do that.
“I’m really good at working under pressure so I think I’d be good at working in an emergency room.”
However, Darcey is motivated to become a paediatrician and works as a young leader at Brownies to gain more experience surrounding children.
She said: “I want to be a paediatrician because I love kids. I’ve been volunteering with Brownies because it gives me more experience.
“You learn how to talk to them as sometimes it can be difficult to learn how to differentiate between how to talk to adults and how to talk to kids. It gives me experience with that, even if it’s just talking about a new fidget toy they have.”
Darcey praised Elgin High School for supporting her during this stressful time of her life.
“I have a person that I get to talk to once a week and just vent," she said. "We sit down every Friday and have an hour-long conversation.
“I’m very grateful to the school for arranging that because it makes me feel so much calmer and I get to unwind at the end of the week.”
Zack Crowley (16), got 4As and a B at Higher and has ambitions to become a pilot.
He said: “I’m going to go to university to do either a physics or engineering degree. I want to be a pilot.
“That’s been an ambition from a young age as my dad is in the Royal Air Force. None of my family have ever been to university, so they are quite proud of me.
“The teachers have been great and it’s a good working environment at Elgin High.”
