Girl, 8, paralysed by rare injury as father teaches her to surf
POSING on pristine sands beneath a clear blue sky, a proud father and his eager daughter capture the excitement of her first surfing lesson.
But moments after this photograph was taken, a freak injury robbed eight-year-old Nakita Wright of the use of her legs, possibly for life.
The youngster was still on dry land and learning how to jump up on the board when she was suddenly struck by a rare injury called surfer’s myelopathy. This occurs when the spine is hyper-extended, pinching a key blood vessel and starving the lower spinal cord of oxygen, killing nerves vital for feeling and movement.
Almost a year on from last October’s incident, Nakita still needs a wheelchair, but has vowed: ‘I will walk again.’
Her mother Natasha, 38, recalled: ‘Her dad Russell was teaching her
She suddenly screamed ‘I can’t move my legs’
to lie down and jump up. All of a sudden, Nakita said, “Mum, I can’t move my legs!” She started crying and checking her feet and she struggled to walk.’
Her parents were concerned, but at first thought her legs were just ‘sleeping’. Mr Wright carried his daughter back to their beachside hotel in the Algarve resort of Praia de Rocha, where she took a nap.
But when Nakita woke up she could still not feel her legs so her parents took her to hospital in Faro, where doctors diagnosed an infection. Yet after two five-day courses of steroids, Nakita was no better, mystifying the medics.
Only after she flew home to Trowbridge in Wiltshire, did doctors diagnose that she was the youngest ever victim of surfer’s myelopathy. A consultant told her parents: ‘It is unlikely she will walk again.’
Hairdresser Natasha said: ‘I was an absolute mess. I can remember my heart just breaking.’
But Nakita will not let it beat her. Doctors at Bristol Children’s Hospital describe her as resilient, and Nakita says: ‘I can go up stairs myself and get outside and cross the road to school. I think I’ve dealt with it well.’
Natasha added: ‘Nakita has been amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of how she has dealt with it.’
Dr Peta Sharples, consultant neurologist at Bristol Royal Hospital, said she was ‘quite pessimistic’ about Nakita regaining use of her legs, adding: ‘She has had a lot of rehabilitation and time has gone by. Most recovery is in the first six months.’
Nevertheless, the family are trying to raise £15,000 for medical equipment that uses electrical pulses to stimulate paralysed muscles in the hope it will help Nakita recover.
To donate, visit gogetfunding. com/nakitas-pedalling-pink