Remarkable recovery

By Lachlan Ellis

A local girl has a new lease on life after recovering from serious spinal surgery, and her family have thanked the community for their support.

Emeliah Flenley from Darley was just six years old when she underwent surgery for severe scoliosis at the Royal Children’s Hospital, with the condition leaving her in constant pain, and requiring the use of a wheelchair as walking for a long period of time made her pain even worse.

In a 15-week procedure, doctors removed part of her spine, with Emeliah requiring inpatient stay for months – but because her family live within 100 kilometres of the Royal Children’s Hospital, they didn’t qualify for free accommodation at Ronald McDonald House.

Twelve months ago, Emeliah’s grandfather Wally asked if his workplace, Ballan’s Crossroads Trading, could help raise funds to lessen the financial burden – and more than $12,000 was raised.

And while the road to recovery hasn’t been easy, Emeliah’s mum Tjanna says the quality-of-life improvement has been enormous.

“Emeliah’s surgery has been life changing. She has gone from not being able to walk very far, not being able to play with her friends, to being able to run, jump, dance and do most things that any other child can do,” she told the Moorabool News.

“Her surgery has given her the freedom she needed to gain her self-confidence back. There were some small hiccups with the growth rod surgery as she was the youngest and smallest child in Australia to have these specific rods put in, she did lose a lot of blood, but her medical team improvised and were able to shorten the rods to make sure they still worked efficiently.”

Intense therapy was needed for the first couple of weeks and Emeliah had to learn to walk again, but Tjanna says her little girl’s strength and determination “pushed her through the hardest days”.

“Her happiness and her bubbly personality have come back, and she is no longer in pain. We are so grateful for all of the help from the community, especially Crossroads Trading for their support, dedication, care and love,” she said.

“Anyone who donated money has made a massive difference in Emeliah’s life – that money allowed me to stay close to her to help her through the most difficult time in her life. To be able to be with her daily to support her and help her with her therapies.

“We are definitely lucky to live in such an amazing community.”