Our precious daughter Nikau, 13, needs urgent medical treatment and time is of the essence!

Nikau has Adolescence Idiopathic Scoliosis, a fancy way of saying that for a (yet) unknown reason, Nikau’s spine started bending in an S shape curve about 3 or 4 years ago. This painful curve results in constant back ache and if not treated, will continue to have more severe effects on her health and mobility.

Nikau is a talented athlete with a passion for sports, however over the past 3 yrs she has been on a roller coaster ride of trials, big efforts, small victories and a lot of frustration as both the curve and her pain continues to grow. She has faced each new challenge and set back with patience and grace, a young courageous warrior facing whatever new experience her path presents.

Doing NOTHING is not an option.

Spinal Fusion is the WORST option, she would be left permanently functionally limited. There will be NO MOBILITY in the spine and on going chronic pain, neurological symptoms and a relatively high chance of a second surgery. Sadly this has been recommended as the only option available by doctors in NZ.

So, the BEST option for Nikau is VBT, Vertebral Body Tethering, a surgery that works similarly to (teeth) braces on the spine.

As we are not able to have this procedure here in NZ, we need to travel to Istanbul, where an

excellent surgeon, Prof Alanay, will perform VBT on Nikau’s spine. He believes she makes a great candidate, but also stresses that TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. VBT technique uses the body’s growth as a leaver to straighten the spine, and at 13yrs old, Nikau is about to have her final growth spurt. In fact, we would have been in Turkey by now if we could.

The surgery costs $42,000 Euros, about $70,500 NZD

For an inspirational example of the benefits of this surgery please click on the following links to see how a youngster with a similar situation as Nikau appeared on Britains Got Talent to dance her last dance ever before she was going to have her spine fused. Instead Simon Cowell one of the judges paid for her to have VBT in the States as she captured the hearts of everyone and with her dance group, won the show!. Her recovery was fantastic, and she will probably dance for the rest of her life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwUAJ0NkxPk

https://www.facebook.com/BBCLifestyleHealth/videos/10155985681846108/

This is exactly what we want for Nikau, a happy ending to the Scoliosis Journey. Life with full range of movement to play sport, dance, embrace life and extend. There is spinal movement in just about anything we do…

Please help us get there as soon as we can, we only have a short window.

We have to act now or this window for Nikau will close.

Thank you thank you thank you

Much love from Nikau’s Whanau