Royal Children's Hospital celebrates surgery milestone
A remarkable milestone was celebrated at the Royal Children's Hospital today.
Five hundred young Victorians have now had their lives transformed by a delicate operation that stops epilepsy.
Five-year-old Ollie Terrell became the 500th patient to undergo the surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital, with surgeons removing a tiny piece of his brain which was causing relentless and uncontrollable epileptic fits.
“It was going to have a permanent impact on his future life career choices as he got older, schooling and everything,” Ollie's mum Kimberley said.
When he woke, Ollie was a different little boy.
The boy's father, Mark, said: “Not only hasn’t he had any seizures since the surgery, but we’re actually seeing a side of him we really didn’t see from when the seizures started.”
Six-year-old Elijah Smith underwent similar surgery last year.
The little girl's mother Lewanna said: “It was really hard. Elijah would fit morning and night.
"She got up to 80 a day so it was pretty rough.”
But the operation proved a success.
“The future is really great. She’s back to school full-time now, sport, things like that, without a problem,” said Elijah's father Robert.
Around 40 of these procedures are performed at the Royal Children’s Hospital every year and the results are life-changing, with roughly 70 per cent of patients becoming seizure-free.
The operations are aided by public support through the annual Good Friday Appeal telecast on Channel 7.
