Students of much-loved Cornwall dance teacher fundraise for vital knee op

• Watch Sam Blackledge's package.

A dance teacher from Cornwall says she feared she might have to give up her passion after suffering a serious injury and being told she would have to wait more than a year for surgery on the NHS.

During a hockey match in September Rachel Luiten, aged 35, ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament and dislocated her knee joint.

The injury required reconstructive surgery - but long NHS backlogs, partly caused by Covid, meant she might have had to wait between 12 and 18 months.

Experts warned if she did not have surgery within a year, she risked never being able to fully dance or teach dancing ever again. So she decided to seek expensive private treatment.

"It was a no-brainer really, I was forced down that route" Rachel told ITV News.

"But I'm a single mum, I don't have a high-paid job, I didn't have £7,500 or anywhere close to that lying around."

Keen to have her back on her feet as soon as possible, Rachel's students and fellow teachers at Ballaré School of Performing Arts in Saltash were inspired to help out. 

Cake sales, raffles, craft fairs and other events have so far brought in more than £2,000 - and last week Rachel went in for surgery, which was successful.

With careful rehab, she hopes to one day return to full fitness, and to the world that she loves so much.

"It's therapy, it's escapism," she said.

"I'm not very good at talking or communicating verbally, but I feel like I can when I dance.

"I love passing that on to children, seeing them develop, seeing them progress and find the love for it."

In a joint statement, the region's health bosses said: "The pandemic has inevitably affected less urgent care, but NHS staff in Devon and Cornwall are pulling out all the stops to provide operations at the same time as treating Covid patients.

"That's one of the reasons why it's so important for people to keep themselves safe from Covid-19 by getting vaccinated and taking precautions to prevent spread, so we have enough capacity to reduce waiting lists."