Melanie Wilford listened helplessly as her son Dillon let out an agonising scream. It was a chilling noise she was used to. There was rarely a time Dillon wasn’t writhing in pain, begging for his leg to be amputated.
The 11-year-old's life turned upside down when he woke with a sore leg and a limp in November 2021. The next day, he was unable to walk. Every time he put his foot down he was left in unbearable agony.
His mysterious condition baffled doctors for months until he was finally diagnosed in February this year. Dillon, from Bolton, went from being a healthy little boy to suddenly having Complex Regional Pain Syndrome – a condition so excruciating it carries the nickname ‘the suicide disease’.
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Dillon’s incurable condition is so severe he once told his family he wanted to die. Melanie remembers a time he screamed out in pain because a cat hair landed on his leg.
But the schoolboy was given a glimmer of hope last month when the family learned of a new machine used for targeting chronic pain located in the USA. The Vecttor machine uses electro-stimulation based on acupuncture, cellular physiology and anatomy to help stimulate nerves. Without hesitation, Melanie, 47, booked flights to Houston.
Melanie and Dillon stayed in the city for two weeks while a doctor showed them how to use the machine. After just a few days, Dillon’s pain began to subside - his mum seeing him smile properly for the first time in months. Melanie has dubbed the machine a “miracle”.
“I knew we had to book it right away,” she said. “It was really emotional because it was just me and him there and I was terrified in case it didn’t work because I promised him it would.
“It was just so good seeing him having fun and smiling because the majority of that pain had then gone. He could touch his leg and he had his shoes on for the rest of the day.
“We used the machine every single day. He was able to put a pair of socks on which he hadn’t been able to do at all this year. On that day, he stood on his foot and put a bit of weight on that foot. It was the first time he had done that this year too. You could see the circulation coming back. By the end of two weeks, you could see circulation in his toes. Before, you could see nothing.”
Mum-of-four Melanie purchased the machine for £5,000. Dillon will use it for 40 minutes a day, twice a day, before dropping the usage to once a day. He will begin to use the machine less often as his pain lessens but will still need physio sessions.
His reduced pain means Dillon can now wear socks and trousers again and touch his leg. He can now also lie underneath a blanket.
While student nurse Melanie doesn’t ever know if Dillon will be able to walk properly again, she’s just “over the moon” he is no longer suffering. “I think we’ve all got PTSD with how the last year has gone,” she continued. “If he evens stubs his toe, we all get out of breath.
“We just don’t know at the moment, I’m just over the moon that he’s not got that amount of pain. When he’s at school he’s done steps with his crutches. He’s not in chronic pain, it’s an ache which says he has used his leg and muscles.
“I think he’s forgotten how bad that pain was – but the rest of the family haven't. In Houston, spent the day together at NASA and Dillon said he had the best day of his life. To see a little bit of him come back – it's amazing.”
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