FOR most of last year, Patimah Beevi was in hospital and even went through two major operations.

A liver transplant patient, she had a series of complications following her transplant in November 2006.

Towards the end of last year, the former top N-level student failed all her subjects during her O-level preliminary examinations because she had neither the time nor the energy to study.

But the 17-year-old did not give up. And neither did her teachers in Yuan Ching Secondary School.

In a battle against the odds, Patimah did a whole year's worth of studying in just three months.

Last week, when the results were announced, she found that she had not only passed all her subjects, she scored 20 points for her best four subjects for the O levels.

This puts her in the top 25 per cent of her school's normal academic cohort.

It also means that she can further her studies at Millennia Institute or a polytechnic of her choice.

Yuan Ching's principal Chia Chor Yann said: 'It's a remarkable achievement considering she spent only about three months in school.'

Speaking to The New Paper at her home last Thursday after her father went on her behalf to collect her exam slip, Patimah said she was happy with her results.

Though she had hoped to get into a junior college, she said with a stoic smile: 'I did my best. It's okay.'

Her soft, quiet voice belies her strength and her drive to do well.

Patimah was born with liver problems.

ONLY CHILD

She is the only child of Mr Moorthar Mahideen, 48, who stopped work after suffering spinal injuries from an accident in 1998, and Madam Jamila, 39, a housewife.

The family lives on public assistance.

A life-saving liver transplant operation was scheduled just before her N-level exams in 2006, but Patimah put it off so that she could complete her exams.

Her liver transplant operation - her mother donated part of her own liver - took place in November 2006.

When the N-level results were released the following month, The New Paper reported then that she not only passed, she also clinched second position in her school.

At an Edusave scholarship ceremony later, she received a framed report on her published in The New Paper. It was presented to her by Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who also autographed the piece.

The framed report hangs proudly on her room wall, while a framed copy of the same report hangs in her parents' bedroom.

But for the teenager, her struggles were far from over.

In the following months, she suffered from medical complications.

Her bile duct were partially blocked and her enzyme levels would sometimes go abnormally high, among other problems.

She was often in hospital, sometimes for a few weeks at a stretch.

Mr Chia said: 'She had been in and out of hospital for most of last year.'

DID NOT GIVE UP

Despite this, her father said she did not give up on her studies.

She received regular tuition in mathematics from a family friend, while her father's friend helped her with physics and chemistry.

She studied other subjects by herself, while her school teachers also helped her.

Whenever she was well enough to go to school, Mr Daniel Ong, head of pupil development, would pick her up from her home and take her to school.

After school, different teachers would take turns driving her home.

Patimah cannot take public transport because she is vulnerable to infections. And a tube attached to her stomach makes walking difficult.

The girl said that Mrs Nani Menon, her Tamil language teacher, would also sometimes give her a lift home while Miss Irene Lee, head of national and moral education, would visit her and encourage her.

For her O-level Tamil language oral exam, Mrs Menon also picked Patimah up from National University Hospital where she was warded. She then drove her to the exam centre at Pioneer Secondary School, and drove her back to the hospital.

Her English teacher also went to hospital to tutor her before her oral exam.

MORALE BOOST

Then, during Hari Raya Haji last October, a group of teachers and MrChia visited her at home and that went some way in boosting her morale, her father said.

Even as her health was deteriorating, the girl, who also played the piano and achieved a distinction in Grade 7 two years back, was relentlessly determined.

Although she was discharged only a week before her preliminary exams, she still took them.

She said: 'I couldn't prepare for it but I just wanted to try.

'If I didn't try, I would have been very nervous for the O levels. At least, I would know where I can improve.'

In the few shorts weeks following that, she put her mind to her studies and managed to pass all her subjects for her O levels.

She took some of the exams, such as listening comprehension, in hospital.

Her parents, who dropped out of school at Primary 6, are so proud that they are smiling from ear to ear.

Her father said: 'We just wish that she will be well. Yuan Ching is a very caring school. The teachers, the vice-principal and principal are all very caring. I don't think she could have come through without them.'

Patimah agreed: 'I don't think I could have come so far without my school's and my teachers' help.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 29, 2008