Scores of people have left goodwill messages after news that eight-year-old Carnoustie girl Brooke Ramsay has undergone a successful operation to reverse the effects of cerebral palsy.
Her parents reported to the hundreds of followers of the Brooke’s Dream Facebook page that the 4hr 40min operation “went well”.
Eight-year-old Brooke became the 23rd patient to undergo the selective dorsal rhizotomy operation since Frenchay Hospital in Bristol started performing the procedure a year ago.
The operation cut damaged nerves from Brooke’s spinal cord with the hope that it will allow her to fulfil her dream of being able to ride a bike, just like her twin sister Amy.
Knowing that Brooke was on the minds of many hundreds of people back home, her parents Laura and Stewart have been posting regular updates to Facebook. They said she has now woken from her operation and has started to eat. They also revealed that “she smiled when she noticed she has a monthly membership for Moshi Monsters.”
Brooke’s parents raised more than £60,000 from the Angus community before they learned that the NHS was going to pay for the treatment.
They subsequently gave the £24,000 cost of the treatment away to other local good causes.
Laura and Stewart have endured years of heartache since Brooke and Amy were born prematurely in June 2004, weighing just 2lb each.
Cared for by the intensive care unit at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, the babies suffered pneumonia, chronic lung disease and brain bleeds and had to be revived before their parents’ eyes on more than one occasion, before finally pulling through.
However, Amy was left with a heart condition and Brooke began to develop a form of cerebral palsy that severely limits the movement in her legs and causes great pain.
After reading about the success of fellow Carnoustie parents Averil and Frazer Hirsch, who raised money for their twins Ayley and Chloe (3) to travel to the US for the same operation, the couple decided to push for surgery for Brooke.
An initial request for funding from the NHS was turned down and the family hit out at what they saw as unnecessary stalling from the health service in January over whether Brooke could be assessed for surgery as an out of area referral.
In April, after more months of unrelenting fundraising, the family finally received word that Brooke’s operation would be paid for by the NHS.
Since then they have met with expert Dr Kristian Aquilina, who worked with Dr T S Park in Missouri. Dr Park helped Perthshire toddler Jack McNaughton to walk, as well as Ayley and Chloe.
On Monday the family met with Dr Aquilina, Brooke underwent a gait assessment, which recorded how she walked before the operation, and was also fitted for new splints.
The Brooke’s Dream Facebook page has been filled with good wishes ahead of and after Tuesday’s operation.
Stewart later said: “She was in surgery for four hours and 40 mins and in recovery for about an hour. Dr Aquilina said the surgery went very well with no complications at all just a textbook case as it should be.
“She is now very tired, as you would expect, so we are just letting her rest.”