Spinal surgery gives Millie a new lease of life
Amazing transformation in brave five-year-old girl
A LITTLE girl with cerebral palsy has had her life transformed after she underwent spinal surgery to allow her to walk.
Millie Cowdrey, from Hinckley, had been unable to put her feet on the floor properly but now she can walk unaided and has even won an award from her dancing school.
The five-year-old had SDR (selective dorsal rhizotomy) surgery in October 2018 at Nottingham Children’s Hospital, when the spine is opened and a nerve is cut to allow more muscle movement.
The procedure is not available on the NHS and was paid for after £30,000 was raised in just five months.
Millie’s mum Nichola, 36, wants all the people who have helped to know how well she is now doing.
“It’s been overwhelming, she’s shocked me with her determination”, Nichola said.
“She can’t do long distances but she doesn’t use her walking frame.
“She started dance school in January, doing tap and ballet with Pat Barker Academy.
“We do it as part of her physiotherapy but we call it ‘secret physiotherapy’ as she doesn’t know that’s what it’s for.”
The inspiring youngster also won a teacher’s award for giving 100 per cent and always turning up with a smile, only four months after her surgery.
Doctors told the family that Millie would take six months to recover from the operation and be back at school, but she was out of bed and trying to stand after three weeks
She was soon back at Townlands Primary School in Earl Shilton, where her older sister Summer, aged nine, also goes, and who has been a huge support for her.
Nichola said: “It’s been very hard for Summer.
“Millie was diagnosed with epilepsy this year and we have missed birthday parties for her, but she’s never complained. She’s just got on with it. She’s been really understanding, she helps her all the time. They play so much better now.”
Millie still struggles with her mobility and needs help to get up and ready, but she likes to do as much as she can on her own, brushing and tying up her hair and dressing herself.
Millie’s dad Neil is also there daily to support her and he ran in a triathalon to raise funds for the campaign.
Other fund-raising efforts for the cause included an event at Sketchley Grange Hotel which raised £8,000, a team from 02 in Hinckley taking on the Three Peaks Challenge, and racing night in
Millie surgery, a horse Nuneaton.
will need including
more rotating both her legs as they currently point inwards, but Nichola is feeling positive about the future. She said: “I have realised I am a lot stronger than I thought. When we first got told about her cerebral palsy I was really worried. “People do stare and people do look but I don’t care. I see past the cerebral palsy.
“The future for her is going to be amazing. I’m so proud of her and us as a family.”