My Story Living with Scoliosis:

My name is Philippa Walker, I'm now 17 years old and I live in Sheffield. I was diagnosed with Scoliosis when I was 11, but recently I was looking back over old photos, and realised I had it from the age of 5.

So, what is Scoliosis? It is a medical condition where the spine twists and curves to the side. So many people are misinformed about Scoliosis. It's not just your spine that is affected, it's also the ability to do anything.

Before I was diagnosed, I did a breathing exercise in my singing lesson which involved bending over. That was when we noticed I had a hump on my back.

There are two ways to treat scoliosis:

1) A Body Brace - I had to wear my SpineCor brace for 20 hours a day until I stopped growing. That was for 3 years. I also had to wear it at school, under my clothes, and sleep in it.

2) Operation - The operation consists of metal bars inserted next to your spine to hold it in place and to keep it straight.

How would I like to help? I am trying to raise awareness, so people with Scoliosis can be treated as soon as possible. People need to catch signs of Scoliosis early, so their curve cannot progress. THIS IS IMPORTANT!

In Summer 2018 I stopped growing, meaning I could come out of my brace. My curvature was 36, now it is only 20 degrees. This is a great result because the brace was only to stop it from getting worse.
You can hardly tell that I have Scoliosis now.

I would like to say a big thanks to the orthotics department in the Children's Hospital in Sheffield. They have made me a normal person again.

If you could kindly donate even a small amount to this page then it would be a huge help. The money that I raise will pay for braces (each £1600) and will be donated to the Scoliosis Department in the Sheffield Children's Hospital. I have already raised £312 and I hope to raise some more in the future.

THANK YOU!🤝

This is my YouTube video that I have made about Scoliosis. Please watch it! :)