A woman who was left with a horrific spinal injury after being struck by a ceiling fan has made a miraculous recovery.
Rachel Pighills was left with a condition that meant any sudden movement could risk paralysis or even death A woman who was left with a horrific spinal injury after being struck by a ceiling fan has made a miracle recovery.
Rachel Pighill was ‘internally decapitated’ when the whirring blade collided with the back of the head. She was rendered wheelchair-bound by the injury and risked being paralysed or even dying due to a catastrophic dislocation if she moved suddenly. Scans revealed her brain was slipping into her spine when she was examined afterwards, a rare condition called atlantoaxial instability. Now the 36-year-old has been given a new lease of life after an ambitious surgery in Spain repaired some of the damage. Her husband Guy, 42, managed to raise £350,000 to buy a second-hand ambulance and transport her to Barcelona for the pioneering treatment. It was made possible thanks to a £160,000 loan from a stranger who had never met the couple but was moved by their plight. Doctors at Teknon Hospital inserted metal rods into Mrs Pighill’s spine and reset her skull and brain stem in an operation that lasted 13-and-a-half hours back in May.The surgery was a success and after almost four weeks in hospital, Rachel and Guy drove back to the UK to return to their home in Worcestershire. Now six months later, Rachel has seen an improvement in her condition, which doctors said she was unlikely to experience for another year. The mum-of-one no longer needs a wheelchair and can live without a neck brace most of the time, an item which had become a permanent fixture in her life. Rachel, who has a 14-year-old daughter, said: ‘It wasn’t expected for the recovery to go so well so quickly. ‘The bone growth has been what you’d expect at 12 months, not six months. It’s normally a year before you start turning a corner like this.‘Around early November I was able to go for a proper walk. I couldn’t walk like I could do now and it just feels amazing.‘If things stay as they are or continue to get better I won’t need the other operation. They say a year plus for the body to heal fully, it’s only going to get better hopefully. ‘We went back to Barcelona and we managed to go to the zoo, I’ve been able to walk the dogs and go for a meal. Just normal things you take for granted.’
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