This English teen thought she might never dance again after finding out she had severe scoliosis, but a miracle bionic backbone has changed her life.
Vikki Steele, a 19-year-old from Solihull, West Midlands in England, was just an average 16-year-old girl who loved to dance three years ago when she started having intense shoulder pain.
An X-ray revealed that she had a curved spine, which had morphed into the shape of an “S” with the vertebrae curving at a 47-degree angle, and that she would need surgery.
“I was so scared I would never be able to dance or do cheerleading in the future,” she told Caters News Agency.
She underwent a six-hour procedure in which doctors fused her spine using dozens of titanium rods to straighten it.
“Thankfully it went well and now I’m dancing and cheerleading, which is amazing,” she said. “My new bionic spine has only stopped me from doing certain cheerleading moves like a backbend, for example, but I have no problems with doing high kicks and even the splits.”
Steele is now studying psychology at the University of Southampton, where she is also a cheerleader.
“At first I was really nervous becoming part of the cheer squad as I worried that they might ask me to do things I’m not able to,” she said. “But having gone back to dance after my surgery so easily, I was quite confident in my abilities and people are always really nice if I ever need to explain that I can’t do something.”