Teenage girl who was 'broken in half' learns to walk again thanks to expert team at Southampton children's hospital

A teenage girl who was told that she might never walk again has amazed the medical team at Southampton Children’s Hospital (SCH) by walking out of the hospital unaided.

Aliza Rae AliKhan’s parents were told to prepare for the worst as she was rushed into theatre for emergency spinal surgery after falling from a horse in a freak riding accident.

She survived the surgery but was left unable to walk due to the severity of the accident and complexity of the operation.

But now, thanks to the expertise of surgeons and a specialist rehabilitation team at SCH, Aliza Rae is back at school and back in the saddle again.

Aliza Rae, 13, from Dorset, was riding a horse on in August last year when it suddenly spooked and fell on top of her. The Hanford Prep schoolgirl was rushed by ambulance to SCH.

Scans showed she had a fractured lumber vertebra, where one of the bones in her lower spine had fractured and fragments of bone had entered the spinal canal - causing compression of the canal and its nerves.

Evan Davies, consultant spinal surgeon at SCH, led the team in the emergency operation to stabilise the spine with metal rods and remove the fractured bone, aiming to reduce the pressure on her spinal canal.

Mr Davies said: “When Aliza arrived in the hospital, she was, for use of a better word, broken in half – her top half wasn’t connected to the bottom half.

“I was concerned that the damage had already been done, and my first thought was that this girl might never walk again. My main priority in the initial emergency operation was to relieve the pressure that the broken bone was causing and give the nerves the room they need."

After three hours in surgery, Aliza was placed in recovery with the hope that the surgery was a success.

Mum, Thirza AliKhan, from Dorset, said: “It was a long day, a day I will never forget. We didn’t know what was going to happen and I suppose it didn’t really hit us until the next morning.

“We just needed to stay positive for the sake of Aliza Rae. She was conscious and she was talking, so we just focused on that and went from there.

“We didn’t know what the future would hold, but we knew we were in the best hands and Aliza Rae just kept focusing on what she could do, not what she couldn’t.”

A follow up x-ray revealed that there were still small pieces of bone that needed to be removed, so a second operation, called a vertebrectomy, was planned.

Mr Davies said “This was a more complex procedure, as we had to access the spine through her chest and abdomen to remove the damaged vertebrae and insert screws into her bone. The vertebrae were then replaced with an expanding cage, to hold the spine in place while it healed.

“The surgery was a success, but we had no idea if this would mean Aliza Rae would ever walk again.”

Aliza Rae was transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit [PICU] where her bespoke rehabilitation regime commenced within 48 hours of her surgery, led by the Southampton Children’s Integrated Rehabilitation Team [SCIRT].

SCIRT is a specialist service at SCH that runs alongside a child’s medical and surgical needs. Southampton is just one of a handful of children’s hospitals in the UK that has such a unique rehabilitation service, enabling rehab to begin at the earliest stage of recovery, even while in a paediatric intensive care unit.

Jo Newman, paediatric spinal injury nurse specialist at SCH, said: “We are very lucky to have access to such a fantastic rehabilitation service.

“Research shows that patients make better progress when rehabilitation begins at the earliest opportunity and can reduce the length of their hospital admission.

“We are also unique at SCH, in that we are also able to offer our service seven days-a-week including bank holidays for suitable patients.”

Initially Aliza Rae had very little, if no, movement of her legs. She started with small but consistent therapy sessions, often twice a day. Every bit of progress was celebrated by the entire team - every wiggle of a toe, flicker of movement in her leg, or sitting up unaided for five seconds.

Within two weeks she was making noticeable progress and went from being carried by hoist from the bed to the chair, to sliding herself onto a banana board.

Ms Newman added: “We didn’t know what the future held for Aliza Rae when she came out of surgery, but she maximised her potential by taking every opportunity we offered - she was engaging with all her therapy sessions, she was attending school, she was accessing psychology and youth support, she even attended her own multidisciplinary team meetings!

“She never had any period of being down or giving up, she had this most incredible personality. At the moments she did feel low, she used it to her advantage to keep pushing on.

“The progress was slow, and changes didn’t happen overnight, but within eight weeks Aliza Rae was up and walking, almost unaided.”

Having astounded medics with her recovery, Aliza Rae left the hospital just after her 13th birthday and has now returned to school and is keen to focus on her upcoming exams, as well as planning a fundraising event for the hospital and teams that helped her.

Aliza Rae said: “I want to give something back to everyone that looked after me. I remember being told I might never walk again, but I had this amazing team, my ‘dream team’, and they never gave up on me. They became like friends, not just doctors and physios. They helped me believe in myself.”

Thirza added: “The team were amazing from day one. Positive, supportive and really connected with Aliza Rae – they had the right balance of pushing her and knowing when it was too much. We’ll forever be grateful for everything that everyone at SCH has done for Aliza Rae.”

Mr Davies continued: “It’s awesome to see how far Aliza Rae has come, but the surgery was just a small part of her recovery. The rehab team, therapists and nurses, they all played a huge part, as well as the individual herself, she really is something very special.”

Hilary Phillips, head teacher at Hanford Prep school, said: "Everyone at Hanford Prep played their part in helping Aliza Rae feel part of school life whilst in hospital - live streamed lessons helped her feel part of the school and a buddy "took" Aliza to lessons via a streaming device.

“We couldn't be more proud of her and are delighted that we could play a part in helping with her rehabilitation and recovery."