She was diagnosed with the rare spinal condition transverse myelitis when she was 15, but Miss Preston has defied the odds.

“I was told I would never walk again but that made me angry and more determined. I thought I can show them, and I did,” she said.

“The day I took my first steps . . . it was so positive, so promising. I can do anything.”

But there is another reason for Miss Preston’s smile with the Ashtonfield woman ranking equal second in French as part of her Tertiary Preparation Certificate – the TAFE NSW equivalent of the Higher School Certificate.

The brave young woman even sat for the exam with a blood clot forming in her leg and lung.

“I knew I wasn’t well but I wanted to finish the exam, so I did and then I went straight to hospital,” Miss Preston said.

Miss Preston, 19, started her certificate at Maitland TAFE 18 months ago after leaving school in Year 11.

“I started my Year 11 studies the year after I was diagnosed but it was all too hard. I was going through so much and school really wasn’t working for me,” Miss Preston said.

“So I left and went to TAFE and I haven’t looked back. I realised that because of what I went through school wasn’t for me . . . I think I matured a lot after my diagnosis and I couldn’t adjust.”

Miss Preston admits the past four years have been a struggle but at last the future is looking brighter.

“I’ve certainly come a long way in four years,” she said.

“Back then I was in a wheelchair, I was finding life extremely hard and I didn’t know what was a ahead of me but now I’m different.”

During her studies Miss Preston persevered with her physiotherapy and hydrotherapy and as she can now walk.

Maitland TAFE student Melissa Hill topped the State in her French TPC studies with Laura McDonald sharing equal second with Rebecca Preston. Kathryn Gaut, of Maitland, ranked first in the State in historical studies while Sarah Varcoe topped the State in further maths in context.