A woman with a rare condition has returned to the North East after undergoing a lifesaving operation in Spain.
Melanie Hartshorn suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which causes her skull to dislocate from her neck and spine. As a result, the 33-year-old has spent the majority of her life lying down.
Back in October, she flew to Barcelona to undergo a risky operation to fuse her neck to her spine. The surgery, which is not available on the NHS, was carried out during by her neurosurgeon Dr. Vicenç Gilete García.
On Saturday, after two major operations and six months in the Spanish city, Melanie was deemed fit enough to fly home. She is now recovering with her family at her home in Cramlington, Northumberland.
She told Chronicle Live: "It was a nice feeling to be home. People have been amazing, everyone has been really happy. My neighbours delivered a bunch of flowers to me and that was lovely.
"I'm so grateful to Dr Gilete and the team for being the only ones in the world willing to take on such risky and revolutionary surgeries to attempt to save my life!
"It's never been done before like this. It was really risky and they were really worried that I was going to die but obviously I didn't. I feel so lucky that he agreed to do it. It's saved my life.
"I have just got to be careful while it seizes together, which takes one year, and wear my brace all the time."
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 become dangerously unstable.
She was kept alive for 18 months by a surgical halo vest, which kept the fusions in place. However she was still suffering from seizures, vomiting and pain.
Melanie said the halo was a short-term fix and she needed £100,000 for the operation to fuse her neck to her spine. She managed to raise more than £84,000 in donations on her Go Fund Me page and a "very kind person" offered her a loan as a last resort to ensure the surgery went ahead.
On October 2 last year, she travelled to Barcelona for the operation, which had to be carried out through her throat. However only the first part of the surgery was completed on October 7 as her body wasn't strong enough.
Melanie was placed into an induced coma on the intensive care unit (ICU) where she recovered for four-and-a-half weeks. She then returned to her apartment, where she has spent three months recovering.
She went on to experience a number of set backs including allergic reactions to her tube feed and a tear in her oesophagus. Scans also showed broken screws in her thoracic spine, which needed to be removed.
In January this year, Melanie's mum Molly Hartshorn was diagnosed with heart failure after falling ill. The 71-year-old received treatment while supporting her daughter in Barcelona.
Melanie second surgery, which took 10 hours to complete, was carried out on February 10. She is now recovering at home and has been sitting up for a few hours everyday.
She said: "It was like we were stuck in ground hog day all the time, it was the same routine. Time was flying by without us and we couldn't do anything because we had to wait for my body to heal for the next operation.
"I'm lucky that the second operation went a lot smoother and I got out of hospital earlier than expected.
"I'm recovering well and it's great not having the halo on. It was just pure torture having it screwed in your head.
"I still have a lot of recovering to do and I have to be very careful and try to do everything possible to aid strong bone fusion, such as my bone injections which I have to buy privately."
Melanie's fundraising total has had to be increased to £165,000 to cover the cost of extra medical care.
She has so far received £120,694 in donations. The money raised will be used to pay for Melanie's second surgery, the cost of her extended stay in ICU and additional treatment. It will also cover the cost of accommodation and pay back loans.
On Saturday, April 1, a fundraising ball will be held for Melanie at the Grand Hotel in Gosforth, Newcastle. It includes a red carpet welcome reception with prosecco, a three course meal followed by coffee.
There will also be entertainment from comedian Cristian Steel, live music by band Liberty Belle and a a grand raffle and an auction with prizes which include stays at lodges with a hot tub, glamping, photoshoots and hampers of alcohol.
Tickets are £45pp and everyone is welcome.
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