GCSE joy for the 16-year-old girl doctors gave just six weeks to live at the age of four
- Kirsty Howard was born with her heart back-to-front
- Enjoyed a celebration lunch after scooping an impressive 12 GCSEs
- Schoolgirl from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, has met a string of celebrities as a result of her charity work
A teenager who was given just weeks to live at the age of four is celebrating after gaining an impressive 12 GCSEs.
Kirsty Howard, 16, from Manchester, was born with her heart back-to-front - a condition so rare it did not even have a name.
Her parents were told she had only six weeks to live.
But the youngster, who has led a campaign to raise £5 million for Francis House Children's Hospice in Manchester, has battled against the odds and is today celebrating exam success.
Exam joy: Kirsty Howard, who was given just weeks to live at the age of four is celebrating after gaining an impressive 12 GCSEs
Kirsty, a pupil at Newall Green High School in Wythenshawe, said: 'It was scary but it went OK.'
Kirsty said she had been out for a celebration lunch after having to spend most of the morning in hospital.
The teenager, who still suffers from the rare heart defect which could end her life at any moment, is determined to live life to the full and now intends to go to sixth form college and eventually go on to study Child Care.
The teenager has won a host of famous admirers during her lifetime.
Kirsty Howard, pictured here in 2009 with the Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, has spent much of her life battling a rare heart defect
Survivor: Kirsty Howard, then aged six, with David Beckham at the start of the Commonwealth Games in 2002 - because of her rare medical condition she was not expected to survive
Golden girls: Situs Slot Kirsty passes the Jubilee baton to the Queen with a little help from an admiring David Beckham
Star support: Kirsty with David Beckham when she was seven years-old (left); and in 2002 with Ronan Keating (right) when she turned on the Blackpool Christmas lights.