I found out I had scoliosis when I was 9. I never knew what it was until the doctors told me about it. It is where the spine has a curve in it and for me I have two curves so my spine looks like an 'S'. The doctor talked about back braces and recommended I wear one. The idea was that the back brace could prevent my curve from worsening so that I wouldn't need surgery.

I've had 4 different back braces over the past 3 years. They are uncomfortable to wear and I have to wear it for 18 hours a day. I still do lots of sport and my favourite thing to do is drumming!

After about 2 years of wearing the back brace, my curve progressed significantly in a short space of time due to a huge growth spurt - it went from 50 to 70 degrees in only 4 months. This meant that surgery was the right option and I'm now having my surgery in late July.

My surgeon told me all about the surgery and the risks, including paralysis, and I was scared. Surgery was never something I thought of or something people talked about often, making it even more frightening.

During surgery they fuse my vertebrae and insert metal rods, lengthening and straightening my spine. I will need to build up having the energy and strength to stand up by myself, walk up stairs and sit for a long space of time. My surgeon told me it will feel very strange at first. I hope that I'll be back to doing sport after a year but I'll need to learn to move differently as my spine won't bend like before.   

I have been drumming for 4 and a half years, it’s my favourite thing to do! I’m currently doing my grade 6 and am going to do my exam in the summer before my surgery because I won’t be able to drum for quite a while afterwards.

I have also been playing in a band for about 2 years now, which has been an amazing experience! I did this through music workshop in Bath. I love it there because all the people are great and it's such a lovely community.

I decided to do a drumathon for Scoliosis UK because there is so much we don’t know about scoliosis treatment like new surgeries and back braces, how to prevent it and where it comes from.

I'll be drumming for 10 hours over two days, the first on Scoliosis Awareness day on 24 June and the next on 11 July at my school.

With Scoliosis UK they rely on funding from charities so all the donations you give will be really appreciated by Scoliosis UK. Also not forgetting all the nurses, doctors, hospitals and people around the world who help people like me with scoliosis.

Thank you for taking the time to look through my JustGiving page 😁

Some facts:

- 2-3% of the population will have scoliosis and 10% of them may require surgery

- the most common time for scoliosis to develop is around age 10-15

- early identification is really important as treatment can prevent a curve from worsening and needing surgery

- there is an easy test that parents can do at home to check for the possibility of scoliosis

https://sauk.org.uk/

http://www.bsrf.co.uk/

The money raised will be split between Scoliosis Association (UK) and The British Scoliosis Research Foundation. All funds will go to providing support, improved care, and quality of life for scoliosis patients, and to financing research into the causes and treatment of scoliosis. 

More funding is desperately needed for research that will lead to advances in scoliosis treatment, providing a better alternative future for people with scoliosis.