A NORTH Belfast teenager who is suffering from an aggressive form of scoliosis is to receive a specialist brace this week after the community raised the funds needed to pay for it.
Pearse Campbell (18), who lives in the New Lodge area, was diagnosed with epilepsy and cerebral palsy at the age of 15 months.
He developed an aggressive form of scoliosis last year.
In the space of the last 12 months, he has developed a 74 degree curvature on his spine.
In recent months, the curve has begun crushing his organs and if left untreated, could lead to him losing his life.
Doctors in Belfast Health Trust have told Aisling Campbell that her son, who is wheelchair-bound and a pupil at Glenveagh School, needs surgery, which would last 11 hours and see two rods inserted into his spine.
However, she has been told that, given her son's medical issues, he might not survive and so the decision regarding surgery is under review.
Ms Campbell said she asked about a brace for Pearse to help make him more comfortable but when nothing was forthcoming she set out to make her own inquiries.
As a result she said the family found a doctor at the Kingston Scoliosis Clinic in London who agreed to see Pearse last week to carry out scans and measure him for a brace.
Family and friends set up a GoFundMe page to raise the funds needed to pay for the costs of the consultation, brace and travel as well as private physio afterwards.
To date more than £12,000 has been raised.
Ms Campbell said boxer Carl Frampton and his wife, Christine are among those who have supported the cause.
Pearse last week made the journey to London to visit the Kingston Scoliosis Clinic to see the team and to be measured for the brace, which he and his family will collect this Thursday during a return trip to the city.
Ms Campbell said the team found that her son would need a mixture of two braces, which together, would "slow or stop progression of the spine getting worse".
She said she was also told it would help with "retraining and maintaining a corrective posture".
"Both types of braces may slow progression and give us time to get him fit for surgery because he will still need surgery and we are so thankful that they could help us to try and stop this curve crushing his organs and giving him a bit of his life back," she said.
The mother-of-one said she is "overwhelmed" by the kindness of all those who donated money to make the brace possible.
"We have so much hope because we didn’t have that hope three weeks ago," she said.
"I can’t thank everyone enough and don't know how to repay the kindness and support we have received from the whole community for supporting us and giving us hope.
"My Pearse was given guardian angels with hearts of gold.
"He will be able to sit up in his chair better, and stand in his stander and walker again".
She said her son will have to wear the brace 23 hours a day until he has surgery.
Ms Campbell added: "I haven’t stopped smiling because all I could do before was cry and my heart was so sore.
"But from we knew we could get the brace, to see that I have done everything for him to have a better and more comfortable life, I can have hope to have a life with my boy and that’s all I can ask as a mother".
When previously asked about Pearse's case, a spokesman for the Belfast health trust said it was "unable to comment on the confidential details of a patient".
