A woman who was being kept alive by a surgical halo vest has now left hospital without the device following the the first part of a potentially life-saving operation.
Melanie Hartshorn, from Cramlington, Northumberland, has spent the majority of her life lying down due to a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). It causes the 33-year-old's skull to dislocate from her neck and spine and she spent most of her time confined to her bed.
For the last 18 months, Melanie has been kept alive by a surgical halo vest. However she said the halo was only a short term solution and she needed to raise £100,000 for an operation to fuse her neck to her spine, which is not available on the NHS.
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Melanie travelled to Barcelona in Spain at the beginning of October to undergo the major operation. She managed to raise more than £84,000 on her Go Fund Me page and said a "very kind person" offered her a loan as a last resort to ensure the surgery went ahead.
Only the first part of the surgery, which was carried out through her throat, was completed as Melanie's body was not strong enough to endure the long operation. She was placed into an induced coma on the intensive care unit (ICU) where she has recovered from surgery for four-and-a-half weeks.
Melanie is now out of hospital and is staying at an apartment in Barcelona. She said: "The halos off and I’m alive and breathing and not seizing which is amazing." However she said she is still in a lot of pain as the second part of her operation needs to be carried out as soon as possible.
Melanie has spent longer than expected in ICU, which means she will have to pay out more for her hospital care. Her fundraising total has now been increased to £150,000 and she has so fair raised £92,226. The money donated will be used to pay for her last surgery, the extra time she spent in ICU and to pay back loans.
Melanie has thanked her neurosurgeon, Dr Vicenç Gilete García, for taking the risk and helping her when "none other in the world would". She said her "last wish" is for people to keep supporting her.
She posted on Facebook: "I’m now resting at the apartments as this was a huge surgery, which has taken its toll on my body. There was a real risk that I wouldn’t survive this surgery and I had to write up all my wishes prior, as well as having a psychiatric evaluation and the hospital ethics committee approving!
"It’s going to make one heck of a story one day! I really hope my story will inspire others, to not give up, to keep fighting against the odds… even when (almost) everyone is telling you nothing can be done, keep fighting… and remember "nothing is impossible" - Dr Gilete told me that, despite this surgery having never been performed before by anyone… and he was right!"
Melanie previously had her neck and spine fused during a major operation in Barcelona in 2017. However four broken titanium screws in her vertebrae have caused the fusions to be unstable.
She said this time the surgery is even more risky as it will have to be carried out through her throat, as it's not possible to operate on her back. However she said the operation is the only way to save her life.
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