More surgery needed for Cramlington woman

A 27-year-old woman from Cramlington has been told she now needs to have more surgery despite a successful operation to fuse her neck and spine together.

Melanie Hartshorn has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

It means that her joints dislocate and she suffers seizures, constant pain and headaches and is unable to walk or sit up.

She has already had pioneering surgery in Spain at a hospital in Barcelona to fuse her neck and upper spine together to stop her skull and neck dislocating.

This has been successful and means that Mel can now sit up for 20 minutes at a time - the first time she has been able to do so for years.

She says she's not suffered any seizures and declared the operation a 'total success'.

She now needs more surgery after further tests revealed that her lower spine is also dislocating and she could face the possibility of paralysis if it is not fused together too.

This surgery will cost more on top of the over £90,000 she raised to pay for her initial operation and care costs in Spain.

She is now aiming to raised £25,000 in three weeks so she can have the operation on her lower spine.