Thank you for taking the time to read Tara’s story.

Those of you that know Tara will no doubt agree she is a wonderful, easy going happy young lady who has dedicated the last few years of her life working hard on her education to give herself the best start in adult life. Devastatingly in February this year, Tara was diagnosed with severe scoliosis which is a curvature to the spine, to make this situation even more challenging Tara’s spine is not only severely curved, but also rotating vertically through the curve which is adding even more pressure and restrictions on her skeleton and organs. If that wasn’t enough, on review of the full spinal & head MRI scans that were needed to diagnose this condition, we also discovered that she has a ‘hermiation of the cerebellar tonsil’ which mean Tara’s brain is sitting a little lower than it should be, and encroaching on the top of her spinal canal. As you would image all of this is now causing Tara significant discomfort, pain, fatigue and is also restricting lung and stomach function. The consultant has given us a conservative assumption that the condition will worsen by an additional 2 degrees per year.

We now have two options, the first is to wait and see how much the condition worsens and deal with the consequences in the future (obviously this option isn’t even worth considering) or for Tara to undergo major surgery to straighten and fuse her entire spine. This is a treatment that is available from our wonderful NHS, and in normal times carries a waiting list of 24 months, Covid has reduced the NHS ability to treat this condition down to 40% since last April so that 24 month wait is now realistically more like 30 months plus. If we go down the NHS route Tara’s spine would have bent a minimum of a further 6-8 degrees from her 3rd disc in her lower back upto the top of her spine. The physical and mental strain this will put on Tara doesn’t bare thinking about, and we simply can’t risk the damage this will cause to her organs , or face seeing our wonderful daughter going through this pain for such a period of time.

So.... we have decided the only option for us is to self fund Tara’s treatment which is currently estimated at a cost somewhere between £35,000 & £50,000, however this could grow wildly depending on how Tara’s body reacts and the many months of rehabilitation she will have to endure afterwards

This shock diagnosis and necessary life changing surgery has hit Tara in the middle of her pandemic-ridden A levels, but she will not let it get her down, always smiling, always determined to be the best she can.

We would be eternally grateful if you could find it in your hearts to help by donating a few pounds to help fund our beautiful daughters much needed treatment.

If you are not in a position to donate we would still like to thank you for your show of support by reading Tara’s Story x