A young girl from Top Valley is walking again after an operation NHS bosses had said she could not have.
Shannon Bowley who has cerebral palsy is now doing things she never dreamt of after an operation at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham left her being able to wiggle her toes, crawl and even walk by herself with a frame.
Just under a year ago, Shannon could not use her legs at all but thanks to a selective dorsal rhizotomy at the Nottingham hospital she now can.
Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy
The specialist operation makes it easier for children with the condition to walk by cutting the nerves in the lower spine that are responsible for muscle rigidity.
Shannon was due to undergo the procedure in February last year but it was cancelled by the NHS, a decision that Samantha, Shannon’s grandmother, said broke her heart.
Samantha described how she felt when she found out the operation was cancelled, she said:
For the first hour I just cried and cried and cried and then my mum says to me ‘this isn’t like you Sam, get up and fight, don’t let them win’.
She and the parents of two other children who were due to have the operation also wrote to their local MPs, newspapers and hospitals to campaign for the surgery.
Queens Medical Centre was the hospital to respond to the pleas from the families along with a £100,000 for the 19 children waiting for the operation.
Samantha said: “The hospital have been great, they are brilliant and without them we wouldn’t be where we are today.
“I will always be grateful, I’m just sorry we had to fight in the end to get the surgery.”
Together with her family, Shannon wants to help others with her condition and is campaigning for more support for children like her.
Shannon describes walking again as being like a diamond and hopes to one day become a doctor so she can help others like herself.
