Friends rally for dad’s surgery
A TOOWOOMBA couple is calling on the community to help their friend receive a life-changing surgery.
Jason and Mikaela Smith and their children have lived across the road from the Hanley family for one year. Their children are growing up together and the parents have become great friends.
Mr and Mrs Smith feel helpless as they watch the family struggle through a difficult time.
Ex-footballer Chris Hanley requires a surgery which was 12 years in the making.
In 2005 Mr Hanley injured his neck during an Australian Under 21 trial match.
He sustained further injuries when he was placed in a compromised position in a tackle. His body went into major spasm, he lost feeling in his arms and couldn’t turn his head.
This was the start of a harrowing medical journey with neurosurgeons and pain management specialists.
Mr Hanley was told because of his young age that surgery was not be an option until other avenues had been explored.
He’s tried physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture and topical creams. He’s even received radiofrequency neurotomy, a type of injection procedure used to treat facet joint pain, three times.
Now Mr Hanley has finally been booked in for surgery on May, 25. The cost of the procedure is $15,355.
The procedure involves cervical artificial disc replacement, spinal rhizolysis, spinal fusion and segmental internal fixation.
Mr Hanley’s wife Emily has set up a GoFundMe account.
“So here we are, less than five weeks away from the surgery date, with not a penny to put towards it and two children under five who have no concept of the situation,” she wrote.
To help the Hanley family out, visit gofundme.com/chrishanleys-spinal-neck-surgery.