A young Scots girl with a rare genetic condition has been saved from paralysis thanks to talented surgeons at an Edinburgh hospital.
Elise, eight, was born with congenital scoliosis and kyphosis, which is when the spine fails to form properly in the womb.
Throughout her young life, she has undergone several operations to straighten her spine and will face further surgery as she grows.
Elise lives with dad Richard, 47, mum Kirsty, 44, and big sister Catriona, 14, in Dundee, but due to the complexity of her condition, has always been treated at the Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, dad Richard said: "Elise suffers from congenital scoliosis and kyphosis, twisting of her spine which has been caused by a genetic fault.
"When she was two she underwent extensive surgery at the old Sick Kids hospital and while this did work, it led to two further emergency surgeries to deal with a bad infection and a problem with some of the metalwork that was inserted. Eventually, two years later, she had a fourth operation - which was planned this time - to remove the remaining metalwork."
On January 17 of this year, Elise faced her most daunting surgery yet which involved moving some organs to fix her spine. Doctors had warned that without the operation she would have been left paralysed.
Richard explained: "As she’s grown, unfortunately, her spine has deformed again, leading to a severe kyphosis, a forward bend, which has required further surgery.
"This time, the surgery has been extremely invasive and complicated. Hopefully, she won’t need any more surgery for a long time, but it can’t be ruled out."
Elise's condition means she has spent much of her short life in hospital, which has impacted the whole family.
Richard added: "Needless to say, all of this, both six years ago and now, has had a big effect on us, with a lot of disruption and stress as you can imagine. Elise’s big sister Catriona is six years older than her, and she really struggled with things initially.
"She is 14 now and better able to deal with it all but she still finds it stressful and upsetting.
"Elise herself deals with it quite well. What has been great this time round is that her class at school all made her get well soon and birthday cards and the school made a couple of videos from her friends which they sent to us.
"She misses her pals but this has really helped, and we’re hoping she can go back to school in a few weeks - although it will need to be carefully managed."
Richard has praised hospital staff and charities who have helped support Elise and the family throughout their ordeal.
He said the family have had great help from Crichton, CCU, and Tantallon, Dunvegan wards as well as nurses and play specialists at Ronald McDonald House.
Richard added: "We’ve had lots of help from the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital charity, both directly and indirectly. Kirsty and myself spent the afternoon at The Hub on the day of Elise’s surgery as we wanted to be nearby but needed to be someplace calming.
"It was brilliant. The girls looked after us and we even got involved in the visit from Dynamic Earth that afternoon!
"When Elise was recovering and allowed out of the ward we took her down there a few times, both for a change of scenery and also to take part in the activities that were on. She had a fantastic time and it totally lifted her up when she was getting bored.
"Any hospital stay or major surgery is stressful and upsetting, but everyone has been so good to us that it’s difficult to express how grateful we are for all the help we’ve received."
