Zahnee's x-rays after the surgery. Photo / Supplied
She had been diagnosed with spondylolisthesis of the L5–S1 level of the lumbar spine, was on the surgery's waiting list for about three months, and was doing intensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy to help strengthen her spine.
Her back pain meant she was away from school for almost two terms. She missed her friends terribly.
Now, the teenager is back on her feet.
The short walk to meet her friend at Bayfair this month was the first time the two were seeing each other since the surgery. They were there to do a bit of shopping together before Christmas.
Late last month, Zahnee Riley-Campbell underwent a 10-hour complex surgery at Starship Hospital to realign her lower spine to allow her to walk without pain.
Now, the brave Tauranga teenager is back on her feet.
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"It was just so amazing," Zahnee says of that moment.
"I was just really happy and so excited to see her again and just to be able to walk over to her."
She says before the surgery, she hadn't been able to walk properly for months. She only really walked around the house, and even that was painful. She mostly moved around in a wheelchair.
Now, she is doing two 20-minute walks a day.
"Don't have any pain in my back at all, so it's just strengthening my legs now," Zahnee says.
"It feels so cool to walk without pain and just walking a bit more every day."
She says she is looking forward to some day soon getting back into the hobbies she loved, such as horse riding, swimming and rock climbing.
She has also got her eye on some short-term goals, like another walk around Bayfair with her friends.
"I'm hoping soon I can start kicking the ball around with my brother because that's what we've been wanting to do for ages – just go to the park and kick the soccer ball around."
It has been a long road to this point, with a lot of setbacks and milestones along the way.
In 2011, Zahnee had a life-changing operation in New York to reposition her eyes due to damage from a rare facial vascular haemangioma, associated with Phace syndrome, which she was born with.
Jade says the surgery was a massive development, and so was the walk at Bayfair.
"It was absolutely lovely to see her walk over to her friend. I think it meant a lot for her to be able to do that. It was just a really brief thing, but she was very excited."
A brief moment that made a Christmas miracle believer out of Jade, and maybe more than a few others as well.
What is spondylolisthesis?
Spondylolisthesis is a spinal condition that affects the lower vertebrae (spinal bones). This disease causes one of the lower vertebrae to slip forward on to the bone directly beneath it. It's a painful condition but treatable in most cases. Both therapeutic and surgical methods may be used. Proper exercise techniques can help avoid this condition.
