A DISABLED woman who lived lying down to avoid being “internally decapitated” has walked for the first time thanks to pioneering surgery.
Melanie Hartshorn, 34, has a rare condition that caused her skull to dislocate from her spine.
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She flew to Spain in October 2022 for a series of operations to fuse her spine and neck.
Melanie endured months in the hospital and underwent a second surgery in February before finally returning home to the UK.
It was the only chance she had of survival and she managed to raise nearly £100,000 for the operation which is not available on the NHS.
Now Melanie, from Cramlington, Northumberland, hopes she can start to live a normal life.
She said: “It was a very wonderful and weird feeling to stand up on my own for the first time.
“I could only shuffle a few steps but I have to teach my legs, feet and ankles how to walk.”
Melanie added: “My surgeon is really pleased with how everything has gone because they didn’t know if it was going to work.
“In fact it’s going a lot better than anyone thought and I have done really well.