A young rider who was “broken in half” when a horse fell on top of her and told she might never walk again, “amazed” doctors by leaving hospital on her own two feet.
Aliza Rae AliKhan had to have emergency spinal surgery, and another operation, after her fall, and her parents were told to prepare for the worst.
But thanks to her “dream team” of medical professionals at Southampton Children’s Hospital (SCH) – and her own determination – Aliza Rae was walking “almost unaided” within eight weeks of the accident and is now back in the saddle.
An SCH spokesperson said 12-year-old Aliza had the “freak riding accident” last August.
“The horse suddenly spooked and fell on her,” he said. “She was rushed by ambulance to SCH for emergency spinal surgery. She survived that but was left unable to walk due to the severity of the accident and complexity of the operation.”
Scans showed that Aliza had sustained fractures to a vertebra in the lower spine and that some bone fragments had entered the spinal canal, compressing it and its nerves.
SCH consultant spinal surgeon Evan Davies led the emergency surgery, to stabilise Aliza’s spine with metal rods and remove the fractured pieces.
“When Aliza arrived in the hospital, she was, for want of a better word, broken in half – her top half wasn’t connected to the bottom half,” he said.
“I was concerned that the damage had already been done, and my first thought was that this girl might never walk again. My main priority in the initial emergency operation was to relieve the pressure that the broken bone was causing and give the nerves the room they need.”
Staying positive
Aliza’s mother Thirza AliKhan said it was a day she will never forget.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen and I suppose it didn’t really hit us until the next morning,” she said. “We just needed to stay positive for the sake of Aliza Rae. She was conscious and she was talking, so we just focused on that and went from there.
“We didn’t know what the future would hold, but we knew we were in the best hands and Aliza Rae just kept focusing on what she could do, not what she couldn’t.”
A follow-up X-ray showed more small pieces of bone that needed to be removed, so Aliza had to undergo a second operation, a vertebrectomy.
“This was a more complex procedure, as we had to access the spine through her chest and abdomen to remove the damaged vertebrae and insert screws into her bone,” Mr Davies said. “The vertebrae were then replaced with an expanding cage, to hold the spine in place while it healed. The surgery was a success, but we had no idea if this would mean Aliza Rae would ever walk again.”
Aliza Rae was transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit, where her rehab regime started within 48 hours, led by the Southampton specialist children’s integrated rehabilitation team.
“We are very lucky to have access to such a fantastic rehabilitation service,” said SCH paediatric spinal injury nurse specialist Jo Newman.
“Research shows that patients make better progress when rehabilitation begins at the earliest opportunity and can reduce the length of their hospital admission.”
At first Aliza Rae had little to no movement in her legs but within a fortnight, she was able to leave behind the hoist that had lifted her out of bed, “sliding herself on to a banana board” instead.
“We didn’t know what the future held for Aliza Rae when she came out of surgery, but she maximised her potential by taking every opportunity we offered,” Ms Newman said. “She was engaging with all her therapy sessions, attending school, accessing psychology and youth support, she even attended her own multidisciplinary team meetings!
“She never had any period of being down or giving up, she had this most incredible personality. At the moments she did feel low, she used it to her advantage to keep pushing on.
“The progress was slow, and changes didn’t happen overnight, but within eight weeks Aliza Rae was up and walking, almost unaided.”
Aliza Rae left hospital just after her 13th birthday. She is now back at school and planning a fundraising event for the hospital.
“I want to give something back to everyone that looked after me,” she said. “I remember being told I might never walk again, but I had this amazing team, my ‘dream team’, and they never gave up on me. They became like friends, not just doctors and physios. They helped me believe in myself.”
Mrs AliKhan said the family would “for ever be grateful” to the “amazing” SCH team for all they did for her daughter.
Mr Davies added: “It’s awesome to see how far Aliza Rae has come, but the surgery was just a small part of her recovery. The rehab team, therapists and nurses, they all played a huge part, as well as the individual herself, she really is something very special.”
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