A woman from Northumberland who has spent the majority of her life lying down has come out of an induced coma after undergoing the first part of a potentially life-saving operation.
Melanie Hartshorn, who suffers from a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), is currently in Barcelona, Spain, undergoing an operation that could save her life. The condition causes her skull to dislocate from her neck which means Melanie spends most of her time confined to her bed.
The 33-year-old, who lives in Cramlington, managed to raise £100,000 for an operation to fuse her neck to her spine that is not available on the NHS. A huge £84,000 was raised on her Go Fund Me page and a "very kind person" offered her a loan but her mum Molly, 70, said they have now had to raise the total to £150,000 to cover the cost of further surgery.
