FOUR years ago, Ann Tivey found it hard to even think about the future after her mother Jacqui died of bowel cancer.
But yesterday the 18-year-old Burford School student, pictured, was awarded a place at Oxford University after receiving four A*s at A-Level.
She took biology, chemistry, maths and English and will now go on to study medicine.
She said: “I am really happy, but it has taken a while to sink in and still feels like a dream.”
Miss Tivey said her mother’s death at the age of 50 had been tough, adding: “It made it very hard to think about the future. But I knew I did not want it to stop me, and I knew that is what mum would have wanted.
“When she was ill she was so keen that I should be able to achieve, not because of her illness but in spite of it.”
She added: “I am happy because I know that this would have made her proud.”
Miss Tivey, from Fulbrook, will start at Magdalen College in September.
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