A STUDENT nurse who beat cancer as a four-year-old was so inspired by her treatment she joined the profession – and incredibly has ended up working alongside the nurse who cared for her as a child.

Clara Markiewicz, 20, was just four when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) – a rare cancer of the white blood cells.

After overcoming the deadly illness, she was inspired to become a nurse and has been reunited with her favourite nurse, Kate Pye, more than a decade later during a work placement.

By a remarkable coincidence, they linked up again 16 years later because Kate, who had moved from London to Southampton, had become head of nursing at the children’s hospital where Clara was sent to train.

Clara’s parents, Ingrid and Chris, took their youngest child to the doctor when they noticed bruises over her body in 2001.

Following blood tests, Clara was diagnosed with AML and spent the next six months at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel.

Clara lived at the hospital with her mother and underwent four rounds of chemotherapy as well as several operations.

A clinical trial helped save her life – after she was given a 50/50 chance of survival – and Clara has been cancer-free ever since.

But she always remembered the nurse who helped her and decided to become one herself – and was sent to Southampton Children’s Hospital for her first work placement.

Speaking about seeing Kate again, Clara said: “On my third day I was sitting having my lunch and a woman walked in. She was obviously quite senior but was talking to lots of people.

“I was trying to look at her name badge without falling off my seat or being noticed because I thought I recognised her.

“She then caught my eye and said ‘I know you’ and I said the same ‘I know you’. It was amazing, we both had old photos which we swapped and showed each other.

“It was really good to see her.”

Clara added: “I went to hospital in 2001 for blood results and didn’t leave until six months later.

“I remember quite a lot from my time there, being in hospital became a lifestyle and it continued for the next few years as they monitor you regularly after you’re in remission.

“I remember living on the ward and the nurses. It was quite a small ward and sometimes there’d be days when one of the children would not be there anymore but nobody told you why.

“Obviously it was a critical care ward and everyone was unwell so there was a high percentage of children that didn’t live.

“It was sad and a scary place sometimes but the nurses made it fun. They were amazing.

“I remember Kate quite clearly. When my mum was out, she would sit on my bed or lie under the duvet and watch movies with me.

“I had my room decorated with lots of pictures and they put your name on the door so it felt like a home. It was home for me.

“For a long time my parents, my dad in particular, found it difficult especially when I came home and wanted to go back to hospital because I missed it.

“The staff were always professional and they were so good that it meant the bad things didn’t stay bad for long, or you didn’t remember them for long.

“They were like big sisters. Most were young, around the age I am now and when you’re four you look up to those women as cool grown up girls more than anything else.

“I didn’t realise until I was at university how lucky I was. I hope to be just like the nurses I had looking after me.”

Clara has known she has wanted to be a nurse since she was ten years old after being inspired by Kate and the other nurses who looked after her.

She said: “I was about ten when I realised I wanted to be a nurse. I’ve always loved children and I know first hand how important nurses are to the kids.

“I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

The children’s ward at Royal London Hospital closed in 2003 and Clara had her follow-up appointments at a different hospital meaning she and Kate did not see each other again for more than a decade.

Clara, from Hertfordshire, is currently in her first year at the University of Southampton where she is completing a degree in children’s nursing.

She said of her placement at Southampton Children’s Hospital: “It was weird to be back in a hospital, because I spent so much time in them. It was quite emotional.

“It was eye opening and really good too. I could say to a child I understand, and actually mean it because I’ve been through it.

“There was a little boy who had been in and out of hospital all his life, he had all these scars and he was getting upset as he didn’t want to have another Hickman line put in and another scar.

“I said to him ‘you’re going to match me’ and showed him my scar on my neck and he looked at it and said ‘OK that doesn’t seem too bad’ and seemed happier about it.

“Things like that make it all worthwhile.”

Kate, now a senior matron and head of nursing at the children’s hospital, said: “We treated Clara in 2001 and the unit closed in 2003 as the children’s cancer services were transferred to other places.

“It means none of the nurses, who went to work at different units, saw Clara again after she came to say hello soon after being told she was in remission.

“I was ward manager at the time and I remember Clara did really well with her treatment. She was quite a poorly little girl but did amazingly well.

“Nurses work 12-hour shifts and are able to build up professional strong bonds and meaningful relationships with the children and their families which is why Clara decided to become a nurse too.

“I was amazed to see Clara. You do not forget a name like hers. I hadn’t seen her for so long but it was lovely to see her.

“To me she looked the same, although I was standing in front of a 20-year-old student nurse I could still see the four-year-old.

“She had been really brave and been through so much, she’s moved around, travelled and I’ve done the same so it’s amazing to meet again.

“I’m sure she’ll be a brilliant nurse.”