A FORMER Lakes School student - and celebrity lookalike - has overcome a serious illness to tackle her first race.

Natalie Vella, whose mother Caroline Kaye is co-owner of Windermere’s Cedar Manor Hotel, took part in the Langdale 10k Christmas pudding race on Saturday.

Only eight years ago Natalie, who has appeared on TV as a lookalike for X-Factor judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, was unable to walk without pain and without the use of crutches.

Natalie, now 23, started to suffer at the age of 14 with lupus, the autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. It began with swollen joints and rashes, then painful mobility, at first diagnosed as reactive arthritis.

“By 15, she was unable to walk without pain,” said Caroline. “She had years of tests and medication, and the condition would regularly flare up. But for the last two years she has been exercising and with professional advice from a dietician she is eating more healthily, and at a recent check-up the doctors said she was completely clear of the disease.”

Natalie has been working as a professional make-up artist, hair stylist and model in London and is about to emigrate to Malta to pursue her career .

Caroline, who has run the London Marathon to raise money for a Lupus charity, and her husband Jonathan, also ran the race to support Natalie.

“She is doing this run to say goodbye to Lupus and to show her strength to other Lupus sufferers, to encourage them not to give up hope,” said Caroline.

Donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/nataliervella