A teenager who missed out on mainstream school because of a rare illness is back in class.

Rebekah Pyne, from Wibsey , had not been to school full-time for almost four years because of her painful condition until she started at Tracks – a home-tutoring-style school run by Bradford Council. The 15-year-old, who has idiopathic intra-cranial hypertension, has managed to notch up 60 per cent attendance since she started last year.

Shortened to IIH, her condition happens when the body produces too much fluid round the spinal cord and brain. Only one in 100,000 people are affected by it.

It took Rebekah nine months to be diagnosed after complaining of headaches just before she began secondary school. The symptoms can be likened to having a brain tumour and the pains in her head were so bad, blurring her vision, that the teenager, of Harbour Drive, was constantly off school sick and going to see her doctor.

After originally being told it was migraines, she finally had an MRI and CT scan and was diagnosed with IIH, for which there is no cure.

The medication she has to take gives her pins and needles, makes her feel dizzy and light-headed. As part of her treatment she also has lumbar punctures once every three months.

Her mum Alyson said: “Now she’s getting a bit older I think she is able to manage the pain and symptoms a bit more – and she’s having hypnotherapy that is helping. She’s doing very well.

“She’s a clever girl and is enjoying her lessons at Tracks.”

Last year Rebekah and and her family took over St Winifrid's Hall, in St Paul's Avenue, and put on an event which raised £1,207.76 for a charity helping others like her. Now the family are planning a similar event on Saturday, September 29.

To find out more about Rebekah’s condition, go to www.iih.org.uk