A 12-year-old girl from Arbroath is recovering after undergoing extensive back surgery to stop her spine crushing her lungs.
Amber Whamond had two titanium rods, eight screws and five hooks placed in her back in a successful operation to correct a 48-degree curve to her spine at the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids in Edinburgh last week.
Her mother Cherise is looking to raise awareness of her condition, scoliosis, and is calling on parents to check their children’s spines.
The problem first emerged when Amber complained she had hurt her back while competing in the high jump at an athletics competition in August.
When Cherise looked at her daughter’s back she noticed for the first time that her spine was curving to the right.
An X-ray at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee subsequently revealed the scoliosis was so pronounced she would require medical intervention.
“Surgery was the only option otherwise the spine would have continued to curve and start to crush Amber’s lungs and other organs,” said Cherise.
“In the month between her being seen at Ninewells and at Sick Kids in Edinburgh her spine curved from 43 degrees to almost 48 degrees – it was sudden and dramatic.”
The four-hour operation involved titanium rods being inserted down each side of Amber’s spine, secured with eight screws – each measuring between four and six centimetres – into the vertebrae. Five hooks also secured the rods.
The first year pupil also had bone grafts fused between the affected vertebrae.
Cherise said: “Amber is such a positive person.
“She was calm before the operation because she knew it had to be done and hasn’t complained once about the physio even though you could tell it was sore.
“What is hard is that it will be six months before she can swim again and a year before she can do athletics or dancing again and Amber was such a sporty, active person.
“At the moment if she walks round our cul-de-sac she is exhausted and is not allowed to bend, lift or twist but that will improve over time.
“It’s a huge relief that the operation went well – the difference on the X-rays is quite astonishing. She will get regular check-ups but the specialists are happy.”
Scoliosis often started in children between the ages of 10 and 15. In some cases a back brace can stop the curve getting worse as they grow.
The cause of scoliosis is usually unknown, although it can run in families.
“There seems to be a real lack of awareness of it and it’s really something that parents should look out for,” Cherise added.
“Parents should ask their child to bend forward and dangle their arms and look out for a rib hump – a triangle to one side.”
Cherise has also backed a petition to make scoliosis screening compulsory in all UK schools.
