A FATHER who cashed in his pension and re-mortgaged his home to pay for the spinal surgery his daughter was not able to access under the NHS said he wants other parents to be aware of their options.

Sporty Ella Tomlinson, 14, was due to undergo a procedure called Vertebrae Tethering (VBT) last year after she developed scoliosis of the spine but the NHS withdrew funding for the operation due to an administration problem.

A traditional, irreversible 'fusion' operation involving steel rods was available but would have likely put an end to her sporting days while requiring huge amounts of after-care including 12 months recovery plus the need to learn to re-gain balance, particularly to be able to walk up and down stairs again.

Despite media pressure, the funding was not re-instated for VBT so, with the clock ticking, Steve and Amanda Tomlinson, who live near Leominster, made the decision to take Ella to a hospital in the USA where she had the life-changing operation last week.

Mr Tomlinson, whose family forked out a total of around £140,000 for the operation, flights, accommodation and after-care, said: "There was no choice to make in the end. We weren't going back to fusion – there was no way she was going through that.

"So it was a case of 'right, we need to raise money'. I cashed in my pension and re-mortgaged and scraped together and managed to raise the money to get here and pay for the operation and flights and accommodation, with pennies to spare really.

"This option is three months recovery and fusion is 12 months. There was no choice."

His message to families with children facing the same diagnosis is that there is an alternative to fusion surgery.

"If parents of children decide it [fusion] is for them then it's not for me to criticise but let them be aware there's another option, and in the future will be an option in the UK,” he said.

Recovery for Ella, who trains with the county hockey and netball teams and attends Hereford Cathedral School, is still under way but it is hoped she will be out of hospital this week. She will then remain at the apartment for a week, taking some gentle exercises before she progresses further.

"I no longer have a pension to cash when I retire and will not be able to retire as will have to keep working to pay for the mortgage," said Mr Tomlinson. "But she has got her life in front of her and deserves the best.

“She has to go through some big pain barriers, even with medication. It's very distressing as parents.

“But she is so brave – she's never once called out and said 'I can't take this'. She grits and gets on with it. She makes me so proud and humbled that she just doesn't complain. She is an absolute star and an inspiration.”