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Girl who was 'broken in half' learns to walk again

BBC Aliza is standing in a hospital garden smiling at the camera. She has long brown hair which is swept over one shoulder and tucked behind her ears. She is smiling at the camera and wears a cream woolen jumper, which has a large red heart embroidered on the front with black stripes across it and a navy blue raincoat over the top. In the background are hospital buildings but she stands on a grassy area with a tree and some green foliage around her.BBC
Doctors did not know if Aliza, 13, would ever walk again after she fell off a horse in August 2024
Emily Ford & Sophia Seth
BBC News

It has been seven months since Aliza was lying on the ground, unable to feel her legs, having just fallen off a horse.

The 13-year-old broke her back "in half" in August 2024 and had to be taken for emergency spinal surgery, while her parents were told to prepare for the worst.

But the teenager, from Stourpaine in Dorset, has come a long way since then and believes it is partly down to her positivity.

Not only is Aliza now walking again - she is back riding horses.

Remembering the day of her accident, Aliza said: "I was on a friend's horse, just walking around the arena and it completely freaked out after a rustle in a bush.

"I was thinking this is not real at all. I remember falling, I remember my sister trying to catch the horse, the neighbours coming out and holding my hand saying 'don't move'. I couldn't move my legs."

Aliza's Family Aliza is lying on the floor after the accident. She has a white pillow with grey stripes underneath her head and is covered with a blue sheet up to her tummy. Her hands are folded over her tummy and she has a white bandage around one hand. There is a woman holding onto her hand and some emergency service workers' feet can be seen standing nearby. Aliza is looking at the camera. She wears a short sleeve pink top and is trying to smile.Aliza's Family
Aliza's family were told to prepare for the worst when she was taken into an emergency three-hour spinal surgery

The horse fell on top of Aliza after it was spooked and scans at Southampton Children's Hospital (SCH) showed she had a fractured lumbar vertebra.

Evan Davies, consultant spinal surgeon at SCH, led the team for her emergency three-hour surgery.

He said: "She was, for use of a better word, broken in half – her top half wasn't connected to the bottom half.

"I was concerned the damage had already been done and my first thought was 'this girl might never walk again'."

Aliza's journey from breaking her back to learning to walk again

Aliza went on to have a second operation and then spent months working with Southampton Children's Integrated Rehabilitation Team.

The specialist service works in partnership with a child's surgery and medical needs and for Aliza, it was all about getting back in the saddle.

"Before I could walk, I could ride," the teenager said.

"I think the positivity has helped me - I just wanted to get back on a horse, didn't want to think about not being able to, I just blocked that out."

Aliza said she would tell herself, "I am going to get better" and she, "tried so hard at everything".

She added: "I just had to - I just had to get better. [I'm] so incredibly thankful to hospital. All the effort, they made me so happy."

Mr Davies added: "It's awesome to see how far Aliza Rae has come... she really is something very special."

Southampton Children’s Hospital Aliza is sat in a hammock in hospital. She is grinning at the camera and either side of her are nurses, also smiling at the camera. Aliza's hair is brown and tied back in a ponytail, she is wearing a khaki green T-shirt and pale green shorts, and has a white hospital band on her wrist. The hammock is pale blue with a bright yellow lining and holds Aliza up.Southampton Children’s Hospital
Aliza said she was "incredibly grateful" for everything the SCH team did to get her back riding horses

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