- Georgia Rawlings was left paralysed following her horrific fall in September
- Doctors revealed it was unlikely she would be able to move most of her body
- But her family were stunned when she moved her left wrist following surgery
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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This is the incredible moment a student paralysed from the chest down after a freak accident defied doctors to move her hand.
Georgia Rawlings, 18, snapped her neck in four places when she fell backwards from the apparatus in a park in Lincoln in September.
Doctors told the tetraplegic – loss of all four limbs – that she would never walk again and didn’t expect her to ever regain movement in the majority of her body.
But her family were left stunned when she was able to move her left wrist following complicated surgery to fuse her bones together – and even captured the moment on video.
She is now battling to regain the full use of one of her arms so she can stroke her beloved dogs once more.
Miss Rawlings said: ‘I am taking things one day at a time – I was in quite a bad situation at the beginning, it could have been fatal.
‘My two dogs and the dogs in the kennels where I work are a big part of my life and my motivation – I want to be able to care for them and give them cuddles with my arms working.
‘Everyone would handle this situation differently but it’s just a case of taking things one step at a time, staying positive and putting on a brave face because there’s nothing you can do about it.’
Her mother, Michelle, 44, said her daughter suddenly started screaming in pain after undergoing the surgery.
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‘Then suddenly she raised her left arm up off the bed. We couldn’t believe it. I started filming and managed to get her to raise her wrist up,’ she added.
‘That is something she has never been able to do since the incident and is the most movement she has had – it was just incredible.
‘I can’t stop watching the footage. It is just amazing, remarkable. She has really defied the odds.
‘She is just completely and utterly refusing to give up. I don’t know where she gets her strength from but she is incredible, it is just mind-blowing. Her positivity is absolutely amazing.’
Georgia Rawlings, 18, snapped her neck in four places when she fell backwards from the apparatus in a park in Lincoln in September
Miss Rawlings was left with four fractured vertebrae in her neck which trapped her spinal cord following the accident.
The student, who was in her second year of a college animal management course and worked at a kennels, was rushed to intensive care.
Doctors said it was touch and go for the first couple of weeks – but she managed to pull through at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
She was then transferred to The Princess Royal Spinal Unit at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital.
Despite her spinal cord releasing by itself, the irreversible damage had been done and she was left paralysed from the neck down.
She later regained some sensation down to her chest – but doctors never expected to regain anymore.
Doctors told her she would never walk again and didn’t expect her to ever regain movement in the majority of her body
Miss Rawlings said: ‘I am taking things one day at a time – I was in quite a bad situation at the beginning, it could have been fatal’ (pictured: a scan of her neck after the accident)
Since being in hospital, she has been placed in a brace which was screwed into her skull to keep the vertebrae in her neck still.
And earlier this week she underwent surgery to fuse and stabilise the damaged bones.
Doctors said there was a very small possibility the surgery would help her regain movement because it removes the spine away from the spinal cord.
But after witnessing her move her wrist, her family are hopeful she may be able to gain sensation in her lower body in the near future.
Mrs Rawlings added: ‘Considering she was able to lift her wrist two days after the surgery we have no idea what is coming next now.
‘She just wants her arms back so she can stroke her dogs, brush her own hair, text her friends. Now getting her left arm back seems to be becoming a reality.’
Mrs Rawlings, and her husband Steven, 50, are now fundraising for home adaptations, stem cell treatment and pioneering electrode therapy.
Lincoln City Council have removed basket swings from six play areas across the city – including the park Georgia was injured in – while a review takes place.
A fundraiser will take place at Saxilby Lincoln on March 11. To make a donation go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gee-rawlings
Miss Rawlings is now battling to regain the full use of one of her arms so she can stroke her beloved dogs – Smudge and Murphy – once more
Lincoln City Council have removed basket swings from six play areas across the city – including the park Georgia was injured in – while a review takes place
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