After being diagnosed with scoliosis during her Bronze DofE, Zoe and her parents made the difficult decision to try experimental surgery in Germany. After six hours of surgery, Zoe became 6cm taller instantly and despite being told it would take two weeks to start walking, she managed to get back up and moving within a week. She had already been diagnosed with scoliosis by the time she started her Bronze Award, so put things in place to ensure she could take part safely, including wearing a brace during the expedition.

Read her story.

For her Physical section, across all three levels she chose to work on her fitness, as she knew keeping fit and building muscle would be hugely important for her recovery. For her Skills section, Zoe chose cooking and taking part in a British Sign Language online course which she enjoyed and came in handy when she met the first deaf contestant on Love Island, Tasha Ghouri at her Gold Award celebration event! For Volunteering she supported younger students in her school, which she says helped her confidence levels.

Looking back on everything she’s achieved over the course of her DofE Awards, Zoe says she feels proud of herself and more aware of her own resilience. Overcoming what she describes as the most difficult period of her life has shaped Zoe into the person she is today. It hasn’t been easy, she’s experienced a lot of pain and is always really tired at the end of the day, but each step of her Gold Expedition was aa reminder of how far she had come.

Not only has Zoe done her DofE for herself, but she’s been committed to supporting others along the way. When first diagnosed with scoliosis, Zoe describes the process as isolating and intimidating, with limited resources and opportunities to talk to people. As a result, she feels it’s important to raise awareness by talking about her own experiences so people feel less alone and have hope that things will get better when they’re at their lowest.

Zoe’s biggest advice to someone else going through difficulties is to make sure you surround yourself with people who are going to encourage you and never say you can’t do something. She says DofE instilled a sense of adventure and solidified her love for the outdoors, and she’s excited to go and see the world in the future because she knows she can take on anything she puts her mind to.

“The DofE, especially the Expedition section, pushed me to test my physical and mental resilience in ways that echoed my scoliosis journey.”