BUT IT MAY STILL HELP GIRLS OF LACIE’S AGE
LACIE CARTER, 14, dreams of becoming a professional dancer. But 18 months ago, the Bournemouth schoolgirl was diagnosed with scoliosis – threatening to dash her dreams.
Her mother Lora, 32, first noticed something was wrong when Lacie was trying on new clothes. She says: ‘Her clothes suddenly didn’t fit her quite right, and when I took a closer look I saw her right hip was sticking out lopsided.’
An X-ray at Southampton General Hospital showed that Lacie had a 50-degree curve in the lower part of her spine – severe enough for spinal fusion to be necessary – and it has rapidly worsened.
Her father Mitch, a kitchen manager, says: ‘Lacie started feeling pains in her feet when she was dancing. Pretty soon after, she began to struggle.
‘She stopped being able to walk very far because of the pain. She used to dance in her room but she stopped that too.’
From the very beginning, the Carters decided they would do everything they could to avoid spinal fusion, and hope to have the tethering procedure with Prof Alanay in Turkey.
Mitch says: ‘Lacie’s curve was in the lower part of her back, meaning any fusion would severely limit her movement.’
They want to keep Lacie dancing. ‘She’s a dancer – it’s all she wants to do. She’s incredibly talented. She can do flips and do all sorts of moves, and has won competitions. She has a real future ahead of her,’ Mitch adds.
The surgery will cost £55,000 and the Carters have been fundraising online, but feel they are in a race against time.
Mitch says: ‘The longer we wait, the worse her spine will get.
‘It’s great that in the future children might be able to get this on the NHS, but by then it’ll be too late for Lacie.’