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17/08/2022
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Nicola Bardon 7:00, 17 Aug 2022
SCOLIOSIS sufferer Katie O’Connor wants to inspire others after being crowned Miss Dublin just four years after her life-changing surgery.
The Tallaght beauty, who is representing her county in the annual Miss Ireland final next week, was diagnosed with the spinal deformity when she was just 11.
Miss Dublin Katie O'Connor had scoliosis as a childCredit: Collect
Katie's before and after x-raysCredit: Collect
Before the diagnosis, her parents thought she had an over-developed muscle due to her love of dancing.
Katie, 18, told the Irish Sun: “Everybody knows me as a dancer. So getting a diagnosis like that, with dancing being my life and purpose, left uncertainty about what my life would be like.
“I had to monitor myself every day. There were days where I was physically tired and my spine was so out of place that it was sore and there were days where my body was feeling good. I had to get through the emotions.”
Her life quickly changed due to the diagnosis.
She said: “I had to be taken out of school to go to physio appointments and doctor appointments.
“I had my surgery in between my Junior Cert so part of it was pushed to the following year.
“I couldn’t do what everybody else was doing — I had to make my own plan.”
As a dancer, Katie had represented Ireland.
She said: “I think my biggest fear after I had surgery was that I might never get back to the level I was at or have that feeling I had before.
“Through hard work and the help of my surgeon I managed to get back to the world championships last year. It took three years to get there.”
And she wants others who are waiting on surgery to know that life will get better.
Katie said: “I am trying to be that voice for people to have someone to look up to who has scoliosis. There isn’t any person in my life that I could look up to in that sense.
“I have always been strong minded and I think that helps me get through what I need to get through.
“If you sit and wallow in it, you’re not going to get where you need to be. You’re just going to call it a day.
“I want it not to be such a negative thing.”
Katie was crowned in June, and on August 20 she will represent Dublin in the Miss Ireland competition in Mayo.
LONG WAITING LISTS
She is hoping to use her time in the spotlight to raise awareness for scoliosis and for the charity Straight Ahead Ireland.
The beauty queen said: “I loved the idea that Miss Ireland and Miss Dublin is all based around charity and using your title for raising awareness for something you’re passionate about.
"It gave me a platform to teach other patients that they can do whatever it is they want to do. You don’t have to sit on the sidelines — you can do it all.
“The waiting lists are currently three years long — and for someone with scoliosis, you can rapidly change in a week, never mind a year.
“Every single person I spoke to has said: ‘I didn’t know what it was until someone I knew had it or someone told me about it.’
“It’s not something you just know, you need someone to explain it to you.”
Speaking about her chosen charity, Katie said: “A surgery for scoliosis on average costs about €50,000.
“It’s huge, but there’s massive work put into having a surgery.
“I’m raising awareness for Straight Ahead Ireland, the charity I am working with. They take children off the HSE waiting list and give them these surgeries pro bono.
“These surgeons do them for free just to help these children. To date they’ve taken 144 children off the list, so with the funds and donations they cut down the price to €15,000 per child.”
To donate, visit StraightAhead Ireland.ie.
Katie O'Connor with Pamela Uba and Rosanna DavisonCredit: Collect
Katie is hoping to use her time in the spotlight to raise awareness for Straight Ahead IrelandCredit: Collect
https://www.thesun.ie/health/9259792/scoliosis-miss-dublin-ireland-sidelines-message/
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