This is the emotional moment brave Dundee nursing student Andrina Begg finally graduated from university. Dundee Live told yesterday how the 49-year-old gran battled a near fatal brain aneurism to achieve her amazing goal.
And today she donned her graduation gown and collected her degree in front of her super-proud family.
She now hopes her story can be an inspiration for others battling their own personal challenges.
We revealed how doctors told Andrina’s family ‘to prepare for the worst’ after she suffered a horror brain bleed.
The nurse - who has spent 30 years working in the care sector - said the experts weren’t sure if she would survive.
Andrina was in her final year of a mental health nursing degree when she fell unwell.
She had progressed through the first three years of her course well and formed great relationships with her Abertay University lecturers who guided her through placements as part of her course.
However, in her fourth year, she was rushed to hospital after suffering from a ruptured brain aneurism causing a bleed on the brain, which had to be operated on to insert coils.
And finally today she achieved her dream and officially graduated from university with her super proud family including sons Jordan and Dylan and husband Findlay looking on.
Speaking after the ceremony at the city’s Caird Hall, she told Dundee Live: “It's been such a special day, I'm overwhelmed with emotion.
“I’m now looking forward to a special celebration with my family.”
And she added: “I hope everyone can see what I've achieved and use it as inspiration to follow their dreams.
“It can be hard at times but stay strong - you'll get there in the end.”
Describing her ordeal earlier this week, she told us: “It was a really scary time. I was hospitalised for three weeks and don’t remember anything from the first week of being in there.
“Doctors weren’t sure for a while if I would survive, and my family were told to prepare for the worst.
“The covid-19 pandemic meant that I couldn’t see my family throughout the whole ordeal which was very upsetting when you’re so unwell.”
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