'I completed my DofE after learning to walk again'

A teenager who had to learn to walk again after undergoing back surgery said completing the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award was the hardest thing she has ever done but it has made her "stronger".

Zoe Walastyan from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was recognised for her resilience and determination in a one-to-one exchange with Prince Edward, the award's patron.

The 18-year-old undertook her bronze, silver and gold medals after being diagnosed with scoliosis aged 11.

"I felt like it was something that I could do to prove my worth, to make me who I am today," she said.

Zoe said during a routine check up her doctor noticed her back was uneven.

Further tests showed she had scoliosis and had "two curvatures of the spine", she said.

For the next two years she wore a back brace "day and night, 24 hours a day" but her condition worsened.

In 2020, aged 13, she travelled with her family to Germany, for a procedure called vertebral body tethering.

"Instead of having two rods placed either side of my spine, they placed six little pins into the vertebrae, through the sides of my body."

The operation meant she had to learn to walk again.

"When I put my feet on the floor it felt so different because I literally grew 6cm (2.3in) instantly - it felt so weird, it felt like I wasn't in my old body, it was a new one."

Just a few months later she decided to take part in the bronze DofE Award, which involved volunteering, carrying out a physical activity, learning a skill and undertaking an expedition comprising of camping and walking about 16km (10 miles).

"Both of my siblings did DofE, my parents thought it was a good experience and I said 'I'll try it' because I thought it might make me a little bit less scared of the world.

"It was character development, I needed to prove to myself that I could do it."

Going on to complete her silver and gold awards, with each expedition getting longer, "I've seen a change in my confidence, I'm very glad that I did it", she said.

Although she remains in a lot of pain, Zoe said she was "a lot more like body confident".

She has also had physiotherapy and went to dance classes and the gym to build up her muscles.

"I'm definitely a lot stronger emotionally and physically because some of the things that happened on DofE.

"It's probably the hardest thing that I'll ever physically do, so life can't be much harder than."

Zoe, who is currently taking her A-level exams, hopes to go to university to study accounting and finance.

"I'm a very determined person, I just don't want my condition to stop me from being like everyone else," she added.

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