The elite high-jumper had been suffering from excruciating headaches and was bed-bound for weeks, ­continually throwing up.

Doctors said it was a middle-ear infection but, luckily for Amy, her mum Leanne’s intuition told her there was something more at play.

“Mum knows me inside and out and she always knew I would never complain about something when I was sick unless I was really sick,” Amy told the North Shore Times at a shoot in Surry Hills last week.

“She just knew something was wrong because I would always just push through.”

It was a Sunday when the now 24-year-old and her mum finally went to the emergency room, where a nurse ordered an MRI.

What came next not only changed her life forever, but deeply affected her mum Leanne, dad John, sister Kaitlyn and brother Jared.

“The nurse walked in and was like ‘it’s bad news’, and I was like ‘what do you mean it’s bad news, like, what’s bad news?’,” Amy said.

“And then, yeah, she said ‘it’s a brain tumour’ and I don’t even know what I was thinking, my mind just went blank.

“She put the scans up on to the light box and there was just like this big blob … I just remember lying there and just not knowing what was going to happen, I thought I was going to die.”

Five days later, three spent in intensive care ­undergoing hourly monitoring, doctors removed the ­tumour in Amy’s head. They later told her that they believed it had been growing slowly for 10 years.

“It’s weird when I think about everything I had done before the diagnosis,” Amy said. “It’s like, jeez, I did all of that with a brain tumour in my head.”

“All of that” being her rising status in the athletic world which started at just 10 years old. Encouraged by a primary school teacher to take up high jump because she was “tall and lanky”, it was that year when she broke her first record.

The Turramurra girl, who also spent some time living in Wahroonga as a kid, later attended St Leo’s Catholic College and said she owed a lot to the high school who ­allowed her time to focus on her competition training while other students ­attended general physical education classes.

At just 16, she was chosen to represent Australia at the World Youth Championships in Italy, clearing 1.85m and placing second.

Just months later, she also picked up the title of Junior Sports Star for the North Shore Times at a ­presentation event at ANZ Stadium.

The sporting events and the successes as an athlete kept coming for Amy, who set her sights on attending the London Olympics in 2012.

But, while the diagnosis dashed those dreams, Amy, who is ranked second in Australia, is now fully ­recovered and looking ahead with a keen eye to Tokyo in 2020.

“The Olympics are still a few years away, so I mean there are still a few competitions I want to get to before then,” she said.

“I just try and take it year by year rather than looking too far into the future.

“Obviously I want to make the Olympics, but you’ve just got to take it day by day.”

As part of an exclusive photoshoot for the Times, the newly-appointed Champion sportswear ambassador and Chic Management model showcased exactly why she is so highly sought-after.

Wearing blue jeans, a white off the shoulder top and black pumps, the 179cm model effortlessly worked the camera, flaunting her signature smile.

It’s the same smile that has won her campaigns with Stella McCartney, Adidas, Paspaley Pearls and David Jones, to name just a few.

With such big campaigns under her belt, it is almost hard to believe it all started 10 years ago at the Girlfriend Model Search.

The leggy blonde now has a staggering 65,000 followers on her Instagram account (@amypejkovic), which she said she used to showcase her life, style and work to ­potential future employers.

But while many are finding ways to make Instagram a lucrative venture for themselves, Amy said she saw the social media platform as an important tool for models today.

“It’s hard to keep up with Instagram,” she laughed.

“I feel like rather than it being a way of making money, it’s more of a platform so clients can see who you are as a person and kind of see what work you’re doing.”

Now living in Balmain with her AFL star boyfriend Adam Tomlinson, who she has been dating for over a year, Amy said she owed a lot to the Greater Western Sydney player.

“He’s a big support, he’s worse than my mum … I think he’s my biggest fan,” she said. “He just wants the best for me (and) he always says ‘you know you can be the best, you’ve just got to work harder’.”

Looking back on her journey, from diagnosis to her successful modelling career and growth as an elite athlete, Amy said she felt ­blessed to live a life where she had the flexibility to do what she loved.

“I’d definitely say I’m proud of myself for moving on and moving forward with my life and achieving the things I really wanted to achieve,” she said.

“(I’m proud of) being able to sort of almost put it behind me and not let it control my life because it is tough trying to move on from it.”

Asked if there was any ­advice she had to share with readers, Amy encouraged others to focus on being positive.

“It’s always about putting positive energy out into the universe because you’re only going to draw in what you put out,” she said.

“Like when I was in ­hospital, I only had positive thoughts, everyone around me only had positive thoughts and I had a positive outcome.”

And she also had one other bit of advice.

“Hard work pays off.”

Pejkovic jumps 1.86m at NSW Championships