A girl, 13, travelled to Turkey for a new spine after experiencing years of acid reflux and pain.
Olivia Buckley made the journey to have an invasive 14-hour operation to insert titanium roads and metal tethering across her vertebra.
Her mum, Angela, 44, told the ECHO how the problem was only spotted after Olivia fell down the stairs.
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She said: "She only fell about halfway and said she landed on her bum, so we thought she was OK, but a week later she was still complaining of back pain.
"We had originally put previous pain down to growing pains, but I took her to A&E in May and they did an X-ray and said there was no damage but Olivia had adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
"I was so shocked, but I tried not to let Olivia see that."
AIS is one of the most common forms of scoliosis and affects children between 10 and 18 and is often accelerated by the rapid growth period in adolescence.
Olivia was told she would need surgery to correct her spine and was offered a spinal fusion that uses two titanium rods to straighten the spine and fuse it into place.
Angela, who is originally from Hooton but now lives in Crewe, said: "That also meant that she would have limited movement in her lower back and the vertebra at the side absorbed a lot of the shock and eventually degrade.
"Olivia loves singing and dancing and she was only 12 at the time and I just thought there had to be a better option for her."
Angela, a photographer, set about doing her own research and emailed surgeons all over the world asking for them to perform a non-fusion corrective surgery known as vertebral body tethering (VBT) which uses a 'rope' which allows for more freedom of movement compared to fusion surgery.
But VBT is offered to children whose skeleton has not reached maturity and is not offered on the NHS.
With Angela already noticing how much Olivia had grown, time was not on their side and they embarked on a frantic dash to raise £47,000 for the procedure in Turkey.
Angela said: "We had looked at a doctor in London and that was £60 to £70,000 and America was completely out as that would be £140,000.
"But I found Mr Alanay in Turkey who said he could do it. He was so lovely with a great sense of humour and his way with kids was unbelievable.
"We had a zoom call with him in June and Olivia said she liked him, so we planned to go to Turkey in August.
"It was Mr Alanay who told us how all the acid reflux and back pain she had been getting was the curve in her spine, as while the bone itself does not cause pain, the pulling of the muscles and pressing on her organs had been the source of the problems."
With the help of Olivia's updates on her Facebook page run by her mum and their local football team Northwich Victoria FC to help raise the £50,000 for the life-changing surgery.
Angela said: "I have been overwhelmed by the response and how generous people have been.
"As a photographer for the team I would often take Olivia with me, and they just told me they were there for us.
"The players and the manager were incredible, the players all donated their first week's wages after lockdown on top of all the money they had already donated, we had collection buckets at matches and the fans would donate."
Angela ended up borrowing the remaining money from family, something she is still fundraising to pay back.
Olivia ended up having a hybrid surgery where they inserted fusion rods to the upper part of her back which got rid of her rib hump - affectionately known as 'Bertha' - and VBT on her lower spine to allow for greater movement.
Angela said: "Olivia was amazing through the whole thing - I know I could not have done it.
"She said to me 'I think I am really lucky because I can deal with this, I am touch and I have people behind me'.
"I also asked her if she could tell if Bertha was gone and she said 'yes, because I can sleep properly now'."
Olivia is still recovering at home and is just back in school full time from October 1, but in the meantime, the charity TeamDDB (set up by Danny De Brabander, from Birkenhead, who beat cancer) treated her to a surprise as part of their 'random acts of kindness' campaign.
Danny said: "On August 23, 2021. After a 14.5 hour surgery, 12 hours in ICU, four hours back on the ward, Olivia walked with very little assistance, she never cried and said she was lucky it was her because she is tough and can deal with it all. Olivia is a true warrior.
"To make Olivia smile we have been told that she really wants to do shopping when she can, so #TeamDDB have arranged for £100 worth of shopping vouchers for her - we hope you can buy something nice with them."
Seeing the post on Facebook, Olivia was overwhelmed with the generosity and said: "Wow, I have already got a new spine."
You can donate to Olivia's Just Giving here.
Follow Olivia's journey here.
Follow #TeamDDB and their acts of kindness here.
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