BRAVERY, determination and a lot of love and support has helped Islington’s Jemma Hancock survive an ordeal no 14-year-old girl should have to go through.
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Jemma has hemivertebra – a rare condition in which an extra vertebrae grows between the two lowest vertebrae in the lumbar spine, resulting in an abnormal curvature of the spine.
It was discovered when Jemma was about 14 months old and having difficulty walking.
Her mother, Joanne Hancock, took her to a GP, who referred Jemma to a specialist at John Hunter Hospital.
After she was diagnosed, Jemma’s case was handed to a team at the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Jemma spent the best part of her young life travelling between Newcastle and Sydney for X-rays and MRI scans.
In 2013, her team of doctors took action. Jemma had surgery to remove sacs of fluid that had formed along her spinal cord, which had become tethered.
The spinal cord normally hangs loose, free to move up and down with growth. A tethered cord, however, is held taut at the end of the spinal canal, restricting movement.
An orthopedic surgeon and neurosurgeon teamed up to carefully de-tether Jemma’s spinal cord and insert titanium pins at the base of her spine to support it.
Jemma had to wear a full torso brace for eight months to encourage her spine to grow straight, but it overcompensated. It is now at a 73-degree tilt.
Later this month Jemma will undergo two major procedures in a last-ditch attempt to straighten her spine once and for all.
She will have a halo brace attached to her skull, held in place by six titanium pins. Jemma will have the halo on for seven to 10 days, as weights between 200 grams and 10 kilograms are gradually added to straighten her spine.
Jemma will go in for surgery again, where the halo will be removed and two rods attached to either side of her spine.
It is hoped this will be her last procedure.
But despite all this, Jemma has remained strong, with the support of her mother and step mother, Kyleigh Quinn.
“I don’t really give up,” Jemma said. “I haven’t let [the condition] hold me back.”
Ms Hancock and Ms Quinn turned to The Star to raise awareness of hemivertebra. “The reason we are putting this out there is because over the years the anxiety my daughter has felt not knowing what was going to happen to her was horrible and still is,” Ms Hancock said.
They would like to reach out to others going through the same thing. To get in touch, email thestarnews@fairfaxmedia.com.au.