Staffordshire schoolboy's success on journey to being a chef
An inspirational Staffordshire schoolboy has been celebrating after receiving his exam results.
Ben Baddeley from Silverdale will be able to begin his journey towards becoming a chef after he was informed by his high school that he had passed all his GCSEs.
The 16-year-old has been through so much in the last year, having undergone spinal surgery for SDR spinal surgery to permanently relieve his spasticity, remove the extreme muscle tightness and allow him to learn to walk.
He has continued his regular treatment and physiotherapy at The Westlands in Wolverhampton to help him with his recovery.
According to his mother Amy, he was never supposed to be capable of walking, reading and writing, having suffered scratches on his brain due to losing oxygen during his birth which affected his muscles and movement as he was growing up.
She said he was very focussed on getting through his exams and going to college and said she was very proud of his achievements at Madeley High School in Crewe.
She said: "It's been such a tough year for him, going through school, but he's always been very confident in himself and very determined to continue with his education.
"He's had to work very hard over the years and had people saying that because he had a disability, he probably shouldn't sit the exams, but Ben knew he wanted to do them and was backed by his teachers.
"It's funny as he said to me that he's have quite liked to have sat the exams because he'd worked really hard, so I think I have the only child who is disappointed they didn't get to sit their exams"
The 16-year-old also got a distinction for his BTEC in Health and Social Care and will begin a catering and food technology course at South Cheshire College later this month.
Amy said that despite everything he has been through, Ben has been determined to live his life and work hard to achieve what he has.
She said: "He was never expected to be able to read or write and just for him to get permission to do his GCSE's was huge.
"It felt like he'd moved a mountain and now he wants to go onto college to get the qualifications to become a professional chef as he has such a passion for food.
"I'm just so proud of him and I know a lot of people have messaged his Facebook page to tell him he's an inspiration to their children who are going through the same thing."
