Every so often, a story emerges from our town that reminds us just how strong the human spirit can be.
If you remember, we reported back in July that seventeen-year-old Aimee Nicholl from Blantyre had spent almost her entire life fighting battles that most of us could never imagine. While many teenagers are planning their futures, meeting friends and enjoying life, Aimee has instead endured decades of pain, uncertainty and countless hospital stays with remarkable bravery.
In July, Aimee was in London for surgery. Born prematurely to Blantyre parents Karina Brown and Chris Nicholl, doctors feared Aimee would not even live to see her first Christmas.
At just three months old, she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. By nine months, doctors discovered a cyst on her brain. Then, in 2014, she was struck by meningitis for a second time. By the age of just eight, Aimee had already undergone an astonishing 17 brain operations.
Aimee attended St Blane’s Primary School throughout her primary years before moving on to John Ogilvie High School. She is now enrolled at Holy Cross High School, although sadly her health means she is only able to study online because she is too unwell to attend school in person.
Today, at just 17 years old, Aimee has undergone more than 30 brain surgeries. Heartbreakingly, the last three years have been her toughest yet.
Her mum, Karina, told Blantyre Telegraph: “She has lifelong brain conditions but for the last three years she’s been bed bound with low pressure symptoms in her brain. She has two shunts in her brain and can’t stand up for longer than around 20 minutes before she has to lie flat again. She spends over 90 per cent of her time in bed at home with no interaction with the outside world.”
Despite the efforts of specialists in Glasgow, the family eventually reached a devastating point.
“Her Glasgow Neuro team tried to resolve this but said they had come to the end of their expertise and we fought to have Aimee referred to a specialist brain unit in London.”
For Aimee, simply sitting upright can trigger relentless head pain, severe sickness, overwhelming dizziness and a constant feeling of being off balance. The only relief she gets is by lying completely flat.
In July, Aimee was flown to London aboard an Air Ambulance medical private jet, where she received specialist treatment that simply wasn’t possible in Glasgow because the necessary equipment wasn’t available. Surgeons inserted a metal bolt into her skull to monitor the pressure inside her brain in real time.
Karina has provided an update this week about Aimee commenting, “We were brought back down to London on Sunday there by air ambulance private jet again. (Pictured). Aimee had her biggest brain surgery to date yesterday, she’s had an MFLOW device fitted to her brain. There’s only 5 people in the world who have this device and Aimee now being the 6. Aimee is the second person in the UK and nobody at all in Scotland has it. She is the youngest person in the world to have it.”
Karina summed up, “Aimee is so brave and in turn that genuinely makes us be brave because if she can be strong with all she goes through then we have to be just as strong for her to lean on us as her mum & dad.“
We wish Aimee the very best as she adjusts to her latest surgery and hope things improve in the coming days and weeks. You’re a star Aimee!
