A woman who has spent the majority of her life lying down is set to undergo life-saving surgery - but she still needs to raise more than £15,000 in order to pay for it.
Melanie Hartshorn suffers from a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which causes her skull to dislocate from her neck and spine. The 32-year-old, who lives in Cramlington, Northumberland, struggles to sit up and spends most of her time confined to her bed.
She is being kept alive by a surgical halo vest which she wears 24 hours a day. However the halo is only a short term solution and is currently broken.
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Melanie needed to raise £100,000 so she could undergo an operation in which her neck will be fused to her spine. She has now travelled to Barcelona in Spain for her surgery, which is set to take place on Friday.
She has so far managed to raise £84,007 via her Go Fund Me page called 'Melanie's Mission to Live'. Melanie said a "very kind person" has offered her a loan as a last resort to ensure surgery goes ahead. However she still needs to raise £15,9993 in order to pay back the debt.
She said: "This is such a relief as the halo is so broken and I desperately need the surgery tomorrow. To the person offering the loan, thank you just simply isn't enough!
"Nerves are starting to hit properly now, but I’m just so relieved to be here and able to have my surgery, to save my life.
"I have so much I want to achieve in life, I just need this broken fusion stabilised to be well enough to chase my dreams at long last!"
Melanie has lived the majority of her life lying down due to the condition, which causes all of her joints to dislocate - especially those in her spine and neck. She graduated from Newcastle University in July 2016 while on a stretcher.
She has been travelling to Spain for surgery, which is not available on the NHS, for several years to stabilise her spine. She had her neck and spine fused during a major operation in Barcelona in 2017. However four broken titanium screws in her vertebrae have caused the fusions to be unstable.
Melanie has been forced to wear the halo since May last year and has spent the last few months desperately trying to raise money so she can undergo surgery to fuse her neck to her spine again.
She said that this time the surgery is even more risky as it will have to be carried out through her throat as it's not possible to operate on her back. However she said the operation is the only way to save her life.
Melanie previously told Chronicle Live: "I feel this surgery will change my life."
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