A South Wilts Grammar School student who had to have spinal surgery is running the London Marathon to help fund research into treatments for spinal cord injuries.

Georgina Lange was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, at the age of eight and in 2012 was told she needed surgery. She had the corrective surgery to straighten her spine 2013.

Georgina said: “After 10 hours, 23 screws and two rods - I was pretty much fixed. Within the following six months I faced some complications that caused me to fracture one of my vertebrae and left me suffering with sciatica until June of 2014 when I had a second operation to remove two screws that were aggravating the fracture and my spinal chord.”

Georgina, who only just turned 18, will be running the London Marathon tomorrow (Sunday) as part of #teamspinal to raise money for Spinal Research.

She has already raised about £2,000 for the charity.

“Spinal Research is a fantastic charity who help to fund research into advancing the treatment for spinal cord injuries, push for the international betterment of spinal cord imaging and strive to create standard measurements by which to assess recovery for those who have suffered a spinal injury,” added Georgina.

“The scoliosis surgery caused me to lose practically all movement within my own back and, although I am still able to live a perfectly happy and active life, it has enabled me to have just a small insight into the trauma that the three people every day who are told they will never walk again due to a spinal injury suffer.

“I applied to run the London Marathon because I wanted to raise awareness of conditions such as scoliosis and advertise charities such as Spinal Research who do brilliant work for people suffering from life changing spinal injuries; but I also wanted prove those who had told me ‘you can’t do that’ wrong, and show that my operations did not only leave me with a straight spine and a fantastic scar, but also a desire to make the most of what I’ve been given, as some are a lot less fortunate.”

To support Georgina go to uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=georgina-lange-teamspinal&pageUrl=3