The girl from the Leeds region of England was on the verge of giving up on life until she discovered she was pregnant, at which point she acquired new strength. Motherhood altered her life and allowed her to achieve her goals.
Throughout her adolescence, Rachael Campey struggled with her mental health due to her constant absences from school. At age 14, she was close to giving up on life, but just as she was at her lowest point, she discovered she was pregnant, and that changed everything.
"Finding out I was pregnant saved me in a sense. It gave me a new lease on life," she said.
Campey told her daughter, "When I found out I was pregnant at the age of 14, I promised myself that I would work non-stop to give you the best childhood possible," and she kept her word.
Nevertheless, it was not a simple task. She was expelled from school, attended at least seven different institutions, and had to care for her daughter while completing her education, but it was well worth the trouble.
Campey studied counseling psychology at Trinity University in Leeds after concluding her coursework at York College. Lily-Rose, her 6-year-old daughter, sat next to her and completed her assignments as she wrote her thesis.
At one point, Campey almost dropped out of university because she couldn’t handle the pace anymore, as it was not easy to study while raising children and working.
“I walked down the hall and cried my eyes out, thinking that I had to leave the university, that this whole thing was a huge mess, and I didn’t understand why I had put myself in this situation,” she recalled.
In the end, however, she did not give up and obtained her university degree. Six years after giving birth to her daughter, she wore a black gown on graduation day and appeared at the ceremony holding Lili-Rose’s hand.
“Lily just grinned at me and said I looked like I was from Hogwarts,” the mother said.
Campey proudly received her diploma while her daughter applauded in the audience, because after all, it was thanks to the birth of Lily-Rose that she got this far. Because of her, she worked so hard, she motivated her to overcome the obstacles in front of her. She admitted that she was on a “dark path” before her daughter brought light into her life.
“If it wasn’t for Lily-Rose, I don’t think I’d be here now because I’ve struggled with my mental health,” she said.
According to Campey, Lily-Rose has dreamt of one day becoming an Olympian since she was 2 years old, and the mother hopes that her daughter will be able to achieve her dreams as well.
Campey advised other young parents not to give up when struggling with mental health issues and to keep fighting for their goals.
