STRAIGHT TALKING

Oriana Situ chivers, 19, from Paddock Wood, needs an op, but time is running out…

Nobody likes getting changed for PE as a teen. But for me, it was hell. Because I knew the other girls would stare at the bulky brace around my torso.

I had to wear it to stop my spine from curving any more than it already had.

At seven-years-old, I’d been diagnosed with scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine.

‘She has two 60-degree curves,’ doctors had explained to my parents Mila, 44, and Jonathan, 46.

The only treatment available was spinal-fusion surgery, using screws and metal rods to fuse the spine into one bone.

But this could restrict my upper body movement and growth, and there was also a risk of paralysis.

So my parents decided to let me choose what I wanted to do when I was older. I had to keep my brace on