A woman who was being kept alive by a surgical halo vest has now left hospital without the device following the the first part of a potentially life-saving operation.
Melanie Hartshorn, from Cramlington, Northumberland, has spent the majority of her life lying down due to a rare condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). It causes the 33-year-old's skull to dislocate from her neck and spine and she spent most of her time confined to her bed.
For the last 18 months, Melanie has been kept alive by a surgical halo vest. However she said the halo was only a short term solution and she needed to raise £100,000 for an operation to fuse her neck to her spine, which is not available on the NHS.
