A FAMILY from Winton are set to travel nearly 2,000 miles for life-changing surgery for their daughter who suffers from scoliosis.

A GoFundMe page was set up to help raise the £52,000 needed for surgery which will straighten the spine of Lacie Carter, 14.

And in March, with more than £20,000 raised, the family, from Jameson Road, will travel to Istanbul for vertebral body tethering (VBT), which isn’t available on the NHS.

Lacie’s father Mitchell said they still need to raise £32,000 and were holding raffles to compensate for not being able to host fundraising events.

He said: “We have had so much help from friends and family and local businesses and a lot of local people all who have been touched by Lacie’s story.

“VBT will keep Lacie's young back flexible and in its natural state, this surgery is still at trial stage with the NHS, it was developed in the US, it has been successfully treating children abroad for ten years.

“The only surgical solution in UK is fusion where the discs are removed from between the vertebrae, the vertebrae are fused rigid making the spine rigid and metal rods are attached to secure it in place.

“Lacie would need fusing as low as vertebrae L4/L5; the lumber part of the spine where most of the spine’s flexibility is. Fusing this low would severely limit Lacie's flexibility and day-to-day movement.

“Lacie's a keen dancer and being fused this low in the UK, she wouldn't be able to dance at all in the way she can now.

“The NHS will be trialling VBT in the next year or so, however, this will then be too late for our daughter.”

Mitchell said time was of the essence because in order for VBT to work the person needs to still be growing, however Lacie has nearly finished growing.

She first experienced problems with her spine in February last year when they saw her hips were uneven.

In July, they were told it was scoliosis and told the only option they had was to fuse her spine.

However, after raising the funds and researching alternative procedures, they will travel to Acibadem Hospital where Lacie will undergo an eight-hour long operation on March 26.

And to donate to help the family, visit http://bit.ly/3jllS7v.