Skye's Spinal Surgery in Germany

Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine, it's a horrific journey for all who endures it.

I was diagnosed at aged 10 (now 14), and my Mum & I have been advocating for Scoliosis ever since, setting up our website and helping create a New Zealand support group, to try to enable families to share their journeys and help us young kids have a bright future.

My journey seems to be never ending, from 23-hour a day bracing, full on Schroth physiotherapy in Sydney, Australia and Pilates back home twice a week, all to keep my dreaded curves flexible whilst Mum researched to find an alternative solution for me.

I’m really sporty and adore soccer, I’ve been in 1st XI for three years and as my curves get worse the dread of not being able to play in the future haunts me.

A wonderful surgeon in New Zealand agreed to perform a non-traditional surgery which would keep my flexibility intact for my beloved sports, however, at the pre-op at Starship in Auckland, they found I had a major heart defect, which led Starship to perform an Open-Heart Bypass Surgery in August. I now have a 6 month wait for my sternotomy to heal before I can embark on spinal surgery again.

However, due to this wait, my curves are now beyond the conservative realms for New Zealand and my Mum has had to look overseas for a surgeon who will perform the alternative method of correction called VBT (Vertebral Body Tethering), some call it a ‘Rope Spine’.

My Mum has worked tirelessly to help me and I’d love to help her, so I’m trying to fundraise for the flights home as I will need to lie flat for the duration of the journey.

Through my fundraising a few friends have mentioned that they’d like to help, and thus this Give A Little page was born.

For more on my journey and also my blog, please see the following link:

http://www.scoliosis.gen.nz/skyes-story

For further information on Scoliosis itself, please see our website at http://www.scoliosis.gen.nz.