Tyler Chambers, 9-years-old, suffers from scoliosis, with a 65 degree bent spine. His mother is fighting to get him the surgery he needs to rid away his intensifying pain, reports Lincolnshire Live. There is a surgery in Germany that could help him, yet they need to raise at least 30,000 euros to have it done. They started a GoFundMe page and are doing whatever they can to raise the funds.
The curve in his spine is rapidly getting worse and worse, so it’s a race against time to have the surgery done. The surgery is called Vertebral Body Tethering, also known as VBT, and it could possibly change the life of Tyler forever.
His symptoms surfaced in 2016 when his mother first noticed that his back wasn’t right. They sought out consultants, who referred him to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital and the MRI gave them answers. Not only did he have scoliosis, he also had syringomyelia as well as Chiari malformation. Both conditions that affect the brain. His mother made a brave decision to get him brain surgery before the symptoms worsened, and while the surgery helped, his syringomyelia and scoliosis still remained active.
The cysts in his body still remained from the syringomyelia and his curve continues to deepen, so the procedure in Germany seems to be their only hope at this point. VBT was developed 5-years ago and it places screws in the spine to keep them “tethered” from more movement. While there has been success with the procedure, it’s still too early to know what the lasting negative effects from it will be and a representative from the NHS expressed there is not enough research to know for sure if it’s a wise decision or not. Yet, seeing that other children have had success from the surgery, they feel it’s the only option they have.
The family continues to fight to raise the funds with hopes to have the surgery. They are only at 738 euros, and need to reach 30,000 before they can undergo the procedure.
