Help Meg pay for L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc replacement surgery - so she can get back to her best

L4-L5 and L5-S1 prosthetic disc replacement surgery will change my life.

As a high level canoe polo player in my younger years my body experienced its fair share of knocks. Unfortunately due to the nature of the sport, and frequent impact to my lumbar spine, back issues began. In 2017 after bending to shift a small item inside my rabbit hutch I experienced an assumed disc bulge.

A further 2 years of trudging on without diagnosis, two car accidents with significant impact sparked further exploration into my condition. I am left with two levels of missing discs in my lower back. I cannot recover from this, it will only place further pressure on the next disc level and so on. Daily pain killers help me partly, along with physiotherapy, counselling, strengthening of the surrounding muscles, pain management strategies and stretching.

I work as a personal trainer, which unfortunately is not a job that is conducive with a severe back injury. I have minimal working hours which is a strain financially. My dream is to become a fire fighter, which also does not go with being injured. In early 2019 I made the decision to prematurely end my sporting career as I was no longer able to perform. I am unable to do hobbies such as snowboarding and surfing. My partner and I also cannot take any steps to grow our family as I am unable to carry. As you can imagine this is taking a significant toll mentally. Physical activity is my life. I feel like life is on hold.

L4-L5 and L5-S1 prosthetic disc replacement surgery will return me to full physical health.

I have been declined my application for surgery, leaning on the fact that this is 'degenerative disc disease". Highly unlikely for a 27 year old with no other signs of any degeneration. I would be waiting 2-3+ years for surgery in the public sector because of my age and fitness.

My family and I have decided to proceed with funding the surgery privately to get life back on track, but with a total of $42,218 for surgery alone, this will place significant financial strain on us. I will also be unable to work after surgery while I fully recover and so will be without income.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. Any help is greatly appreciated.

We are currently undergoing an appeal process, should we be successful in overturning the decision then all donations will be used to cover the remaining hospital costs, Physiotherapists, treatment and essential living costs while I am unable to work during recovery.