Girl Horrified As X-Ray Shows Her Spine Is Curved At 80 Degree Angle

The family of a 12-year-old girl who complained of shoulder were shocked after scans revealed her spine was curved at an 80-degree angle. 

Sophie Burgess had complained about pain in her back and shoulder, but trips to a physiotherapist and chiropractor failed to reveal the cause. 

However, things worsened and the schoolgirl started to develop problems with her posture and struggled to stand upright. 

Liverpool Echo

Her mum Heidi Burgess Cederholm said that she was helping her daughter put on a swimming costume when she first noticed how bent her back was. 

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the mum said it ‘appears to have come from nowhere’ as there have been no recent changes to how Sophie had acted in recent months. 

Heidi took Sophie to see a scoliosis paediatric consultant at Spire Manchester on 22 April where an x-ray revealed the curve to her spine. 

The consultant told the family Sophie had rapid onset progression scoliosis. 

The 42-year-old from Pensby in Merseyside, told the Echo: "The consultant said she'd grown seven centimetres in the last year. He said it can be very common especially when girls are going through puberty. But it can come on really rapidly, almost overnight, which is exactly how it was here.

"He said it's very severe though and it could be very problematic especially because of her age and how she's growing. We thought we might be able to get a brace but in her X-ray you can see her back is at an 80 degree bend which he said is way past the point of just having a brace.

"He said the only option was surgery as time is of the essence. If the bend starts going even further it can start crushing her lungs and heart. If it continues to grow and there's no intervention that's what can happen."

Sophie, who is a keen horse rider, has been left in a lot of pain due to the condition and becomes short of breath easily. 

Liverpool Echo

Now the family is fundraising to help raise the money to pay for Sophie to have surgery privately at the end of June. 

Sophie's family want her to undergo surgery as soon as possible due to the risk of her spine bending further, but if they don’t go private she faces an NHS waiting list of nearly two years.

Heidi added: "You just don't expect something like this to just come out of nowhere and affect your child. But Sophie is positive and we've get everything crossed for the future."

You can donate to the fundraiser here.