A mother-of-two ‘feels alive again’ after having major surgery in Germany with the help of Mercury readers.
Fifty-one-year-old practician nurse Vivienne Boyd was able to give her son 'the best 18th birthday present ever' by getting life-changing surgery.
Over a month ago, the Mercury reported how Vivienne had spent the past four months lying on her back after being diagnosed with a spontaneous intracranial hypotension - also known as a CSF leak.
Her husband, Martin, launched a campaign to raise £25,000 to take his wife to a specialist centre in Freiburg in Germany by ambulance.
After a matter of weeks, the money was raised and Vivienne was on her way to Germany.
She said: "I didn't know what they would do if they couldn't find the leak.
"Without him (Martin) and the support of my family, friends and the community I would not be here.
"I knew I had to be brave, I had to do it for everybody who has helped me get this far."
Within 24 hours, doctors conducted a number of tests and successfully located the leak.
A bone spur the size of a ball-point pen tip had grown, snapped away and pierced the dura matter around the spinal cord's nervous system.
Vivienne added: "After my surgery, we spent the afternoon messaging and calling family.
"It is the best 18th birthday present we could have given him (their son).
"I am about 50-70 per cent back to normal now. It is going to take a while for my head to steady and for my body to get strong again and it's going to be a few months before I can go back to work.
"I told the doctors, Professor Jurgen Beck and Dr Christian Fung, they had been the light when it had been very black and dark and I thought I couldn't live like this.
"I told them I am alive again because of them and they had given me my life back."
Martin said: "There are no words to express the gratitude we feel for the expertise of this specialist centre.
"The crowdfunding page helped us make the trip with confidence and the messages of support from so many people have been wonderful and helped keep Viv's spirits up.
"The messages meant the world to her during a terrible time."
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