5%,

Finally, after three and a half months strapped to the striker bed, Velda’s body had healed enough that she could sit up. But her ordeal was far from being over. She had to wear a body cast for the next six months, until her back was strong enough to support her weight. It had been a painful year for Velda, but always a ‘trooper’, she never gave up.*

* Velda was nineteen years old when she had this operation. She had

a second spinal fusion when she was thirty-eight. It was alSO successful.

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