Cork's 'fiercely independent' Ali, 5, learning to walk unaided after pioneering surgery

Allegra Murphy from Crosshaven is now living pain-free and able to walk with the help of sticks after undergoing pioneering surgery, thanks in part to Examiner readers' response to a fundraising drive for the operation

Neville and Laura Murphy with their daughter Ali from Crosshaven, Cork who had major, pioneering surgery in the UK thanks in part to Examiner readers' response to a fundraising drive for the operation. Photo: Dan Linehan

A little girl from Cork is learning to walk unaided thanks to life-changing surgery in the UK.

Allegra Murphy, 5, from Crosshaven, is now living pain-free after undergoing pioneering surgery in April to relieve muscle tightness due to spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.

Described as "fiercely independent”, Allegra, known affectionately as Ali, “took the surgery 100% in her stride”, her dad Neville Murphy said.

“When I saw her come out of hospital she was so much straighter. She used to be quite hunched over. It was like the nerves which were constricting everything and holding it tight had been released," he said.

Neville and Laura Murphy with Issac and Cameron and their sister Ali. “It was an ordeal moving the whole family to England at the height of Covid." Photo: Dan Linehan

“She’s now standing and sitting taller. There’s no hunch there anymore. Her pain is completely and utterly gone.

“And her whole body is freer. She used to be stiff like a board if you picked her up out of bed at night but now she’s wrapped around you.

“And her writing is now up there with the other kids in school. She could barely hold a pencil last year but her grip has really improved.

“Ali can now walk with little sticks and her doctors believe that she will be able to walk completely unaided in the future. That would really give her some independence.” 

Prior to the surgery, Ali had extreme tightness, known as spasticity, in her little legs, caused by abnormal messages coming from her sensory nerves. This prevented her from being able to stand or walk on her own and she had to rely on a walking frame or a wheelchair to move.

But her parents, Neville and Laura Murphy, discovered a pioneering surgery, called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) for Ali's condition.  After years of research and consultations, Ali secured an appointment for SDR last April with consultant neurosurgeon John Goodden at Leeds Children's Hospital.

Many Irish Examiner readers came to the family’s aid, donating to a fundraising drive to help cover the €80,000 the procedure and rehabilitation cost.

The surgery successfully removed the spasticity in Ali's muscles making it easier for her to move and easing her pain.

Dr Godden has helped some 100 children walk. He studied SDR surgery in the US before first bringing it back to the UK in 2010.

The surgery involves cutting or removing tiny nerves in the spine that cause tight, stiff muscles — allowing children who rely on wheelchairs and frames to walk.

Ali has been working hard to get the best out of the surgery. She goes to physio after school twice a week and she has four- to five-hour physio sessions some Saturdays.

Ali Murphy in Crosshaven after her major, pioneering surgery in the UK. “She’s now standing and sitting taller. There’s no hunch there anymore. Her pain is completely and utterly gone." Photo: Dan Linehan

“The hard work is paying off,” Mr Murphy said.

“She never uses the wheelchair anymore.

She’s very good, very independent. She’s quite fierce.

“Unfortunately she is becoming more aware of her condition. She’s the only one in her school with a walker and she can’t run around the playzones.

“But she's popular at school and while she’s becoming aware of her limitations she won’t let them hold her back. At the moment, she wants to be a doctor and a designer, and there’s no reason why she can’t be.

Laura Murphy with her daughter Ali who goes to physio after school twice a week and has four- to five-hour physio sessions some Saturdays. Photo: Dan Linehan

“Some people who are held back in one area of their lives develop more determination.

“She seems to have that. She’s more headstrong than her brothers. She has this fierceness. We hope that drive continues.

“It was an ordeal moving the whole family to England at the height of Covid. Ali was in hospital for one month, between the operation, which took four to five hours, recuperation and physio. Only one adult could go into hospital with her so Laura went and I stayed in our apartment there with the boys. 

"England was in lockdown, we couldn’t go anywhere and the spectre of Covid was constantly hanging over us. But when you’re in the middle of something you just get on with it."

Neville and Laura Murphy with their daughter Ali. Neville said of their time in the UK which was in the middle of a Covid lockdown: "Only one adult could go into hospital with her (Ali) so Laura went and I stayed in our apartment there with the boys." Photo: Dan Linehan

Another positive from Ali’s recent journey is the “huge support” they’ve received, which made her surgery possible.

“When we were called for the surgery the world was up in a heap with Covid," he said.

“It is very difficult to suddenly come up with €80,000 and it was very hard to put my hand up and say ‘we need help.’ But people have been excellent. 

"To anyone else in this situation I would say don’t be afraid to ask for help. What can seem like a huge challenge is actually doable if you try. Everything is doable.

“I’m delighted that we did it. Ali is doing so much better and she really deserves that.”