East End exam champ Saffron is beating the bullies
Battling student Saffron Charles has overcome appalling bullying to earn fantastic GCSE results.
Despite being forced to change schools four years ago after an horrific assault, the Bethnal Green Technology College pupil gained nine GCSEs, including an A in history and Bs in English, maths and science.
The 16-year-old, who has suffered from curvature of the spine for most of her life, had to undergo surgery after an attack at her previous school by an older girl who repeatedly stamped on her back.
Saffron, from Christie Road in Hackney, said: “I’m so happy at what I’ve achieved after all I’ve been through and I’m so grateful to my parents for supporting me through it all.
“My old school knew there was a huge problem with bullying, but they didn’t really want to get involved. Beyond saying, ‘I hope you feel better’, they didn’t give me any support after the attack so I had to move.”
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The school attack left Saffron in a wheelchair for almost two years.
Two-hundred metal rods now hold her spine together and Saffron, who jokes that “my back is like still needs crutches. She only got out of her wheelchair last year.
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Saffron said: “It was a really difficult time for me. The attack changed my life, but all that’s behind me.”
Courageous Saffron now intends to take five A levels at Bethnal Green’s Cambridge Heath Sixth From, before embarking on a medicine-related degree at university.
