Sunderland student lands dream job after overcoming adversity of daughter requiring major brain surgery

Mother Sara Bainbridge is 'incredibly proud' after overcoming the adversity of her 12-year-old daughter collapsing and needing major brain surgery to graduate from the University of Sunderland and land her dream job in teaching.

Sara, 39, enrolled on the university's Education Studies course in 2020 and recently graduated in the summer of 2023 to land her first job in teaching.

However, two months before she was due to start her course Sara's daughter Catrina Anderson collapsed suddenly, and doctors found a serious bleed on her brain.

Catrina was a happy and healthy 12-year-old until the evening of July 4, 2020, when she complained of a headache and began to vomit before collapsing at her dad John Anderson’s home. 

An ambulance rushed her to Sunderland Royal Hospital where doctors originally believed she may have suffered a seizure. However, a scan revealed she had a ‘significant’ bleed on her brain, and she was taken straight to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle for emergency surgery.

Doctors inserted a drain into Catrina’s skull to remove the excess fluids on her brain and she spent two days on a ventilator in intensive care.

Scans found Catrina was born with Arteriovenous Malformations (AVM) – an abnormal tangle of blood vessels that causes problems with the connections between your arteries and veins. 

The initial bleed was caused when a weak vein feeding the AVM ruptured and the 12-year-old suffered an aneurysm and required major emergency brain surgery.

Sara said: “We were told she could die at any time, that’s how bad things were inside her brain.

“I literally felt like I had been hit by a train, I’ve never felt anything like it in my life.

“Every worst-case scenario went through my head, that she might not make it through this operation.”

After 13 days in hospital, Catrina recovered at home and returned to hospital three months later to check the AVM had been completely removed.

Sadly, scans revealed this wasn’t the case and in November 2021 Catrina had to be transferred to Sheffield for specialist treatment.

Doctors used stereotactic radiosurgery or a gamma knife, which is a type of radiation therapy, to target the AVM – but Catrina has to now wait four years, taking her until 2025, to find out if the treatment has been effective.

In December 2022, two years into Sara's course, the family faced further adversity when doctors found a potentially cancerous lump in Catrina’s throat. She was operated on in April of the same year with surgeons removing half of her thyroid gland.

Thankfully six weeks later test results confirmed that it was not cancer.

Despite the turmoil and worry, Sara was determined to continue with her studies.

She said: “Studying was my escape. Even the trauma of seeing Catrina so poorly, I couldn’t sit and dwell on it, or start looking things up on the internet and obsessing over it because I had assignments and revision to do.

"It really did keep me going.”

Finally, 2023 provided some good news for Sara and Catrina. Not only did Sara celebrate her graduation but she also landed her dream job and is now a Learning Support Officer at Route2Work College, within Groundwork South and North Tyneside.

The role now sees Sara helping 16 to 24-year-olds with learning difficulties and disabilities gain recognised qualifications, learn new skills and improve their chances of getting a job.

Sara added: “I’m really happy to have a role in which I can really relate and can make a difference. I hope I can make a positive impact on the students.”

Like her mother, Catrina, now 16, is also determined to achieve her goals after sitting her GCSEs in the summer. She is now studying a Level 2 certificate in Introducing Caring for Children and Young People, alongside her Level 2 English, at Newcastle College.

Sara said: “Catrina is amazing, she just takes it all in her stride.

“Even though she has a brain injury, you would never know. She is a very happy go lucky type of girl and I am so proud of her. I am proud of us both.”

Sara also thanked staff at the university for their educational and emotional support.

Alexandra Brown, Lecturer in Initial Teacher Training and Education Studies at the University, said: “Many students would have withdrawn from the course if they were faced with the same challenges as Sara, but she showed nothing but determination.

"Her resilience and commitment were exceptional, and I was so proud to watch her walk across that stage and accept her degree.”