Pershore woman with severe head condition seeks new operation abroad

A woman with a condition which threatens her life if she moves her head in the wrong way, is hoping to undergo a new set of operations.

Rachel Pighills, 35, from Worcestershire, was struck by a ceiling fan in 2018, damaging her neck and back.

Spinal fusion surgery in 2020 failed, and doctors have told her her skull is now sinking into her spine.

"It was meant to relieve compression on my brain stem." she said.

"But instead I've been fused in the compression."

The mother-of-one, from Pershore, said she struggles to breathe or remain upright after being diagnosed with a number of life-threatening head and spinal conditions including basilar invagination.

"It's terrifying not knowing from one day to the next if I'm going to be alive," she said.

She also has atlantoaxial instability, causing neck movement difficulties; platybasia, a spinal disease; and cervical medullary syndrome, caused by brain compression.

Family and friends set up a crowdfunding bid to raise £350,000 for surgery in Barcelona, but are still £140,000 short.

"We're looking at buying a second-hand ambulance," said her husband Guy, "and use that to get us there".

The undertaking would be "quite daunting," he added, "but it's going to be the safest option for us."

"My doctor is confident if I have the surgery soon the damage can be reversed," said Mrs Pighills.

"But the longer it's left the more the damage will be permanent."

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