Jamilla Blake

When Jamilla Blake was 7, she came for life-saving spinal surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH). “I was referred to RNOH in 2011 after my local hospital found an unusual mass on my spine,” Jamilla explains. “This led to an incredibly rare, one-in-a-million diagnosis of an aneurysmal bone cyst. The cyst was growing at an alarmingly fast rate and wrapped around my spinal cord so I was unable to walk – it had to be removed as soon as possible.”

“RNOH is one of the top centres in the world for the treatment of many complex orthopaedic conditions, including acute spinal injuries, bone cancer and congenital limb deformities. As I was one of the youngest people globally to have had this type of cyst in the spine, the incredible doctors tried a new method of treatment.

“Usually this type of cyst would be treated by replacing parts of my spine with metal, but as I was so young they did not want to stunt my growth and make me undergo further yearly operations. They took a bone graft from my hip and after a 10-hour operation, the cyst and most of two lower vertebrae were successfully removed.”

Brave Jamilla then spent weeks on flat bed rest followed by months in full body plaster then a brace. “I spent a lot of time in and out of RNOH,” she says, “but I was finally signed off at the age of 18 with the operation having been a great success.”

Now 20, Jamilla is training for her first half marathon! She’s doing it to raise funds for RNOH Charity, to help the hospital in return for the life it gave her. “Without the amazing staff at RNOH, particularly my lead consultant Mr Kai Rezajooi, it was almost certain that I would have been paralysed, if I managed to survive at all.

“RNOH Charity funds improvements for the patient and staff experience and it also funds clinical research, which allowed my consultants to create a research paper on my treatment to be shared across the world and help other children like me.”

Jamilla is tackling her big run head on. “I have been training hard for my first half marathon, which has been a real challenge having not run for years and never run this distance. I am very grateful to be able to run at all and would hugely appreciate any donations to help other young people like me in the future.

“The Charity works incredibly hard at supporting the hospital, which treats more than 150,000 patients every year. Your donations can continue to support the life-changing work of the hospital.”