Laura Nuttall was a few weeks into her first year studying at King’s College London when she was diagnosed with brain cancer and U.K. doctors gave her about 12 months to live.

More than four years later, Nuttall has defied expectations and completed her bachelor’s degree after her family searched for alternative treatments and used crowdfunding to pay for therapy outside the National Health Service’s remit, both at home and abroad.

The Nuttalls broadened their quest when they bumped against the constrains of a U.K. health system choked by lengthy waiting lists, overwhelmed medical staff and a lack of funding.