I just want to get my independence back says University of Sunderland student who needs pioneering surgery
“I just want to get my independence back” - the words of University of Sunderland student Melanie Hartshorn who needs to raise over £60,000 to get the pioneering spinal surgery that can save her life.
Three years ago Melanie Hartshorn flew to Barcelona for life saving surgery after raising thousands of pounds to undergo the pioneering procedure which isn’t available on the NHS.
Melanie, 36, who has enrolled on the University of Sunderland’s primary school teacher training programme, said: “As well as muscular dystrophy I suffer from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which was causing my skull to dislocate from my spine. It was causing me to have seizures, any one of which could have killed me.
“I was placed in a metal halo which was a brace with screws which attached my head to my neck. I was in it for 18 months - the longest anyone has ever been in one - before I went to Barcelona for surgery to fuse my spine and neck together.”
The surgery was a success and after years of living in pain and struggles with her health, Melanie finally began to get some independence.
She said: “I was doing really well. I had moved into my own bungalow, started doing some walking with the help of my walker, and signed up at the University of Sunderland to train to become a primary school teacher.
“Unfortunately the fuse between my neck and spine broke up and I had to go back out to Barcelona for another operation to reattach the rods.
“It was whilst out there that my surgeon discovered one of the vertebrae in my back was popping out and rib cage was detaching from my spine.”
This latest development has proven to be a major set-back for Melanie.
She added: “It’s causing me to be in serious pain and I’m now back to being confined to bed. I also suffer from adrenal syndrome and the pain causes my body to go into an adrenal crisis which causes my body to go into a life threatening response.
“I can no longer go into university to attend my lectures, although I’m still logging in remotely.
“I can’t get the surgery I need on the NHS and due to how complicated my situation now is, the only person who can help me is my surgeon in Barcelona. I need new rods in my spine and for my ribs to be fused to my spine.
“He said I need to get it done as soon as possible.”
Unfortunately the cost to fly Melanie to Spain and to undergo the surgery and any follow up treatment will cost over £60,000 - money she simply doesn’t have.
Melanie has now set up a GoFundMe page and is calling on people to help.
She said: “I want to thank everyone who has helped me so far. I had been doing do so well. I’ve now lost my independence and I just want to get it back.
“My surgeon has said if I get this procedure done I should be able to get back to doing everything I was previously.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and so I should be able to get back to university and continue my course.”