Great Ormond Street surgery gives Niamh, eight, the hope of walking

 
Sophie Goodchild16 July 2013

An eight-year-old girl crippled by cerebral palsy is set to walk unaided after a pioneering procedure.

It is a major milestone for Niamh Horton, whose dream is to ride a bicycle, after a team at Great Ormond Street hospital carried out the operation.

Niamh has to use a wheelchair or walking sticks, but she hopes to be able to walk unaided once she has undergone physiotherapy.

Her father Graeme said: “It’s the small things in life that we often take for granted that Niamh hopes to enjoy doing in future.

“She has often talked about having a sleepover at a friend’s place but she hasn’t been able to because one of us needs to be around to take her to the bathroom.

“Walking independently is our ultimate hope for Niamh.”

The procedure, called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy, has been available in the UK only since 2011, and families previously had to go to the US for it.

Doctors cut nerves which cause muscle stiffness in patients with cerebral palsy, to overcome this.

Great Ormond Street is one of six centres offering the operation, which was pioneered by one of its neurosurgeons, Kristian Aquilina, two years ago.

Niamh travelled to London from her home in Dundee for last Friday’s operation.

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