ODETTE Majiedt (18) is a bright young woman with sparkling eyes and a naughty little giggle.

She has high hopes and dreams for the future, just like any other young adult her age, but Odette is anything but average.

She has cancer and has already lost one leg to this disease, and her fight is far from over.

Odette was 17 when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in September 2006.

She bumped her leg against her bed and the resulting bruise became swollen and very painful.

The pain and swelling became worse instead of subsiding, and her parents decided to take her to the family doctor, who referred her to Dr Zietzmann, an oncologist.

After her first operation some tissue samples were sent away and it was discovered that she in fact had cancer.

She immediately started with chemotherapy, but in October her leg had to be amputated.

Follow-up X-rays were taken to see if the cancer had spread and the plates revealed that it had spread to her lungs.

Odette then received a different and much more aggressive form of chemotherapy.

The lung cancer has not progressed, but neither has it improved, so in June Odette's doctors and parents have to decide whether to send her to South Africa for a very risky operation where the cancer would be scraped out of her lung, or whether to continue with the chemotherapy indefinitely.

Odette wants to discontinue the chemotherapy, as it is making her sick and she has not seen any improvement.

She only wants a prosthetic leg so she can function as normally as possible without people staring at her.

"When I first heard that I had cancer I cried a few times but then I gave my life over to the Lord and now I just take each day as it comes.

I live my life as I did before," Odette says.

In fact, she is doing much more than just living like before - she is currently taking dance classes, something she always wanted to do but never found the time for.

Another dream she has is to become a model and walk down the ramp in beautiful clothes.

As soon as she is healthy she will receive a prosthesis, and then she can pursue that dream too.

She is also determined to become a veterinarian once she has finished school.

Odette is currently in grade 10 in David Bezuidenhout Senior Secondary School.

She could not write exams last year due to her hospitalisation, but her marks were so good that she passed with flying colours on the basis of her academic performance throughout the year.

Odette shares a one-bedroom flat in the back yard of a house in Khomasdal with her parents and her little sister Chevonne (10).

The family recently lost their house and now have to share the very cramped space, but even these difficult living circumstances cannot get Odette down.

"I promised myself that I will continue with my dreams and accomplish them no matter what, and with the help from above anything is possible," she says with a determined glint in her eye.