Lewis’ story

The Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales is lucky to have a team of highly skilled and specialist surgeons. As well as being the only hospital in Wales where neonatal babies can come for surgery, it’s also the only place that performs operations on children with scoliosis.  This is a very specialist procedure to correct curvatures of the spine which, untreated, can cause mobility issues and have a detrimental effect on a child’s heart and lungs.

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the waiting list for scoliosis surgery increased significantly. But to increase the number of surgeries and speed up treatment, the surgical team needed more specialist scoliosis trays. This is where your support came in. 

Thanks to people like you, the charity is able to run a grant programme which is open to all hospital staff. It means that clinical teams can apply directly for funding to support projects or equipment that they know first-hand, will make a real difference to the children they care for in their specific field. Recently we were able to award a grant for two new scoliosis trays, meaning that children like Lewis can get the treatment they need quicker. 

Lewis was diagnosed with scoliosis at just nine-years-old. As his spine deteriorated, so did his quality of life. The two curvatures in his spine eventually became so painful that Lewis didn’t even want to leave the house.

David, Lewis‘ dad, said: “Lewis‘ surgery was due to take around six hours but because his curvature was so bad, it actually lasted over nine. It was a long recovery but, thanks to the children’s hospital, he’s now back at school and doing really well. He’s most pleased about the fact that he’s gained three inches in height from the operation!”

It’s thanks to people like you that we can support the specialist work of our nation’s top paediatric surgeons and create better tomorrows for children like Lewis. Thank you/Diolch