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Against all odds, Susan Boyle is this week the subject of everybody's conversation. Everywhere in the world. She got into fame after her remarkable (outstanding!) appearance on last week's Britain's Got Talent, on ITV1. And the Queen would definitely be well inspired to give her a medal of some sort, because her story is amazing and Susan certainly is an example of how it is possible to get through everything even though your start in life was one of the most difficult possible

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Against all odds because Susan Boyle was starved of oxygen at birth, which left her with learning difficulties. Three in 1,000 babies in the United Kingdom still either die or become severely brain-damaged at birth, by the lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain. And those who survive will generally later suffer devastating conditions (cerebral palsy or epilepsy). But new "baby cooling" medical techniques are now emerging that can save the life of 1 in 6 babies whose brains are starved of oxygen at birth.

THE STORY OF A BULLIED CHILD

Unfortunately for Susan, this disability made her a target for bullies and she was rapidly called names because of her fuzzy hair and because she was struggling in class. "I told the teachers, but because it was more verbal than physical I could never prove anything. But words often hurt more than cuts and bruises, and the scars are still there", she said. Her ordeal continued as she found some comfort in singing when she was only five. She later received some professional voice training, but had to stop everything to look after her sick mother, who died in 2007, aged 91.

Until last week, the 47-year-old Scottish church volunteer from Blackburn (Scotland) was still bullied by yobs in her community, calling her names, throwing snowballs at her door and daring each other to knock and run away. They were endlessly mocking her.

SUSAN'S GOT TALENT

But everything changed overnight. On 11th April Susan Boyle, appeared on the Britain's Got Talent TV show. At first, her "very old fashioned" look made everyone smile. Then, when she said that her aspiration was to become a musical theatre singer like Elaine Paige, smiles became laughter. Everyone had already judged her. To everyone in the audience, she was another simple-minded loser who thinks she can sing. Susan was once again a victim of preconceived opinions.

As everyone was getting ready for the jury to give her the sack, "Thank you and goodbye! Next, please", the magic started. She performed "I Dreamed

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