A DETERMINED young dancer who was diagnosed with a potentially debilitating medical condition has refused to let it get in the way of pursuing her dream.

Chloe Daly was taking part in a PE lesson earlier this year when she felt something click in her neck, causing her to lose sensation in her hands.

The 17-year-old, from Darlington, was rushed to hospital where she was diagnosed with Hypermobility Syndrome - meaning she has overly flexible joints which can often ‘pop out’ or dislocate.

The condition often leaves suffers in pain and exhausted, but the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College student has refused to let her diagnosis stop her from pursuing her dream of becoming a dance teacher.

Instead of taking it easy, the teenager has won places at three top dance schools – the Yorkshire Ballet Scholarship Centre, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance advanced programme and the Phoenix Dance Theatre, in Leeds.

“I didn’t think I had got into any, so to get into all three is a really nice feeling,” she said.

“At first when the injury happened I thought I would be fine but when they explained the extent of it I was really shocked. It was quite scary.

“I had to wear a neck brace to prom and we cancelled our holiday to Majorca, so to find out I had got in was a bit of good news.”

She has taken up her place at the Phoenix Dance Theatre, where she trains every Monday and Wednesday, as well as studying PE, modern history, business studies and science at college and dancing at the Elvet School of Dance, in Durham.

“I have danced since I was three - it is all I have ever wanted to do,” she said.

“It sounds really corny and cheesy, but when you do it you feel really relaxed and free.”

Her mother, Helen, added: “We are over the moon as she didn’t think she had got in anywhere.

“We were worried she might be doing too much, but she is so focussed and wants to do well.”

With her positive outlook on life, Chloe urged other sufferers not to let their diagnosis hold them back.

“I think the best thing to do it to carry on and to not let it hold you back,” she said.

“Keep doing what you want to do.”

For more information and support visit hypermobility.org