Taylor’s turnaround after facing total paralysis
OFF FOR OP
IT took just one hour and eight minutes in surgery for a Spanish doctor to give teenager Taylor Boyd-long back her life.
At 17 her body was failing her as a rare condition left her brain pushing its way out of her skull and into her spine, creating excruciating pain and irreparable damage.
And with no suitable surgery available to her in Northern Ireland in time to keep Taylor mobile, the keen horsewoman faced a slow and total paralysis.
But Taylor and her mum Michelle Boyd, from Craigantlet, Co Down, were determined not to give up.
They started a funding drive to raise enough money to have surgery carried out at the world-famous Chiari Institute in Barcelona which specialises in the condition Chiari Malformation type 1.
And on Thursday at 7am the teenager was prepped for surgery.
By 8.30am the surgery was complete. By 9.30am, Taylor was walking, talking and feeling better than she had done in the past two years.
Tests carried out before she went into theatre showed pain levels in her head hitting a breathtaking 8/10.
She had no feeling in her feet and any sensation on the left hand side of her body was severely diminished and lessening day by day.
But on Thursday afternoon, Taylor said: “I feel absolutely buzzing. I haven’t felt this good for about two years. I can feel my feet and I can feel the left hand side of my body which I was losing more and more of.
“The pain that had been the worst part of the illness was in my head. It had been about an 8/10 and right after surgery it felt about 2/10.
“And that’s just within the hour coming out of theatre. I hope there will be even more improvement. But to be honest I didn’t even expect it be this good so I’m very, very happy.”
Taylor’s mum Michelle said: “It has been incredible. We spent months trying to get answers at home, weeks raising money to go to Barcelona.
“The surgery there took just one hour and within 30 minutes of coming round from anaesthetic, Taylor was up on her feet and walking.
“We came to Barcelona with great determination and hope and today we just cried in relief that the surgery has worked. This level of success is amazing and unexpected and now the prognosis is excellent.
“The tests Taylor did pre-surgery
JUST HOURS After OPERATION
showed how bad things were for her in terms of pain, mobility and sensation. But the tests which were done a short while after surgery have shown an incredible improvement. We were all crying.
“When she came round from surgery Taylor hugged me and cried, ‘Thank you mum for getting me here. I already feel more like me’.
EMOTIONAL
“I’ve been an emotional wreck but now I’m so excited for her future. We were very afraid about the surgery but those thoughts have gone. We are on a new path.”
Now Taylor and Michelle want to thank everyone who donated to the surgery fund. They needed €28,400 for surgery and post operative care and thanks to family, friends and strangers, they raised €32,000.
Taylor said: “We had such a lot of support that it boosted us emotionally and financially with our my Gofundme page and allowed mum and I to travel to Barcelona so I could have this chance of getting my life back.
“Today is the start of my recovery and I feel happy and excited and full of hope.
“I have so many people to thank for their support and their donations and of course the surgery team here at the Chiari Institute and lead surgeon Dr Royo Salvador and Dr Marco Fiallos who did my surgery. And my nurse Katharina Kuhn has been with me every step of the way during the consultations, tests, before I was put under for surgery and she was there when I woke up which I was so glad of.”
Two years ago life had become so tough for Taylor as she struggled to get a diagnosis, that she seriously considered making an appointment with the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland. She said: “My condition was slowly paralysing me and it was terrifying. Things seemed so bleak and we even had to move my bed downstairs to my mum’s office because I couldn’t manage the stairs any more.
“Some days were better than others but very often I could‘t physically get out of bed or manage to pull on a pair of socks.
“The pain in my head, neck and back was awful and no painkillers could touch it.
“In fact things got so bad I started researching ways to get to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to be assisted to bring my life to an end. I couldn’t take any
I can feel my feet and left hand side of my body which I was losing more of TAYLOR BOYD-LONG
The pain in my head, neck and back was awful and no painkillers could touch it TAYLOR BOYD-LONG
ON CONSTANT SUFFERING WITH CONDITION