A Mensa member aged just 12 is racing against time to raise £90,000 for surgery to straighten her S-shaped spine.
The cruel condition has halted Macy Handley’s progress as an award-winning ice skater.
And surgeons fear they only have till May to perform the op – not funded by the NHS – before her back bends too far.
If that fear is realised, she faces years of “torture” in a rigid corset. Her vertebrae may then be fused, restricting her movement permanently.
Macy was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis, which curves her spine at both ends, in 2019 after her parents found a lump on her back. It changed how she walks and is twisting her spine to cause a lump on her chest.
Untreated, it will squash her lungs.
A body brace of giant elastic bands which she wears is not working and her spinal curvature is increasing fast.
The proposed “vertebral body tethering” op would involve inserting pins with a cord to pull her spine straight.
Without it, she will soon need to wear a stiff corset for 23 hours a day.
Mum Kerry said: “That would be torture for her. After three years she’d probably still need spinal fusion surgery that would impact all of her life.
“The thought petrifies her. But surgeons feel that with this spine straightening op she’d be back at school in a month. We need to raise funds fast.”
Macy, of Coventry, said: “I just want to be normal, like my friends, and go skating again. I miss that so much.”
To aid the appeal, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/macy-handley.
