
Princess Eugenie told yesterday how surgeons at a world-class orthopaedic hospital saved her from developing a hunched back. She said she was now a role model for children with the potentially-disfiguring condition known as scoliosis.
During a tour of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital she showed a young girl with the same condition the scar on her back from the surgery which she had when she was 12. On meeting 16-year-old Rachel Burgess, she pulled up her long dark hair to show Rachel and her mother, Carole, 49, the faint scar between her shoulder blades. Eugenie told them: ‘That’s what I had, I’ve got the scar on my back.’
Later Eugenie, who was accompanied by her father, Prince Andrew, said she was proud to be a ‘role model’ for other young patients. The princess, a second-year English literature, history of art and politics student at Newcastle University, returned to the medical unit where she was treated to support a redevelopment appeal. ‘I’ve got good memories coming back even though I’m slightly scared of hospitals,’ she said. On the importance of her operation, she added: ‘I wouldn’t look the way I do, my back would be hunched over. I wouldn’t be able to talk the way I do about it and help other children who come to me with the same problem. It was a huge part of my life when I was 12 – so young. Children can see me and know (the operation) works.’
It is the first time she has spoken about the operation. Her condition was spotted by chance after she had a massage, stepping in to fill an appointment booked by her mother. Her operation under general anesthetic was meant to take an hour, but lasted seven. Surgeons INSERT IGNOREed eight-inch titanium rods into each side of her spine and one and a half inch screws at the top of her neck. After three days in intensive care, she spent a week on a ward and six days in a wheelchair, but was walking again after that. She was unable to return to school for a number of weeks and instead had lessons from a tutor at home.
During a tour of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital she showed a young girl with the same condition the scar on her back from the surgery which she had when she was 12. On meeting 16-year-old Rachel Burgess, she pulled up her long dark hair to show Rachel and her mother, Carole, 49, the faint scar between her shoulder blades. Eugenie told them: ‘That’s what I had, I’ve got the scar on my back.’
Later Eugenie, who was accompanied by her father, Prince Andrew, said she was proud to be a ‘role model’ for other young patients. The princess, a second-year English literature, history of art and politics student at Newcastle University, returned to the medical unit where she was treated to support a redevelopment appeal. ‘I’ve got good memories coming back even though I’m slightly scared of hospitals,’ she said. On the importance of her operation, she added: ‘I wouldn’t look the way I do, my back would be hunched over. I wouldn’t be able to talk the way I do about it and help other children who come to me with the same problem. It was a huge part of my life when I was 12 – so young. Children can see me and know (the operation) works.’
It is the first time she has spoken about the operation. Her condition was spotted by chance after she had a massage, stepping in to fill an appointment booked by her mother. Her operation under general anesthetic was meant to take an hour, but lasted seven. Surgeons INSERT IGNOREed eight-inch titanium rods into each side of her spine and one and a half inch screws at the top of her neck. After three days in intensive care, she spent a week on a ward and six days in a wheelchair, but was walking again after that. She was unable to return to school for a number of weeks and instead had lessons from a tutor at home.