Mum reveals her agony at seeing her healthy daughter, 8, left paralysed in a freak surfing accident in Portugal
Nakita Wright was practising jumping up from lying flat on a board when she became one of just 64 people in the world to suffer ultra-rare spinal injury
A SPORTY eight-year-old girl was paralysed in an instant after she suffered an ultra-rare spinal injury while learning to surf.
Little Nakita Wright was enjoying her first ever surfing lesson from dad Russell, 34, on a family holiday to the Algarve.
The flexible youngster, a keen gymnast, was practising lying flat on a board and jumping up while still on the beach before braving the waves.
She had almost nailed the technique when she tried again - pushing down with her hands, pulling her knees in and standing up.
But as she did so she toppled to the ground and cried out in pain.
Nakita, a year four pupil, heaved herself up and staggered a few steps before dropping to her knees and crawling across the sand on her knees.
With tears in her eyes, she told her mum Natasha: "Mummy, my legs are sleeping."
After two months in different hospitals in Portugal and Bristol, doctors finally came to the conclusion - with the help of Google - that Nakita has surfer's myelopathy.
It is caused by hyperextension of the back, which pinches blood vessels running along the spinal cord and cuts off the blood, killing nerves.
Nakita is the youngest of just 64 people in the world ever to be diagnosed with the ultra-rare condition, which can also affect gymnasts, dancers and yoga enthusiasts.
Eleven months on from the freak accident last October she still has no feeling in her legs, relies on a wheelchair and has been told she will probably never walk again.
Mobile hairdresser Natasha, 38, said Nakita's life - and the family's - was shattered in an instant.
The mum-of-one, of Trowbridge, Wilts, said: "It was a holiday to get off and recharge our batteries and come back fresh for the Christmas rush.
"Nakita was on the beach with her surfboard and her dad was teaching her to lie down and jump up.
"She did it and she fell awkwardly. She had broken her leg earlier in the year so she hobbled around a little bit, crying.
"Then all of a sudden the crying stopped and she said, 'Mum, I can't move my legs.'
"Within three or four minutes of that she said, 'Mum, I really can't move my legs.'
"None of us knew about the severity of what had happened - we thought it was a trapped nerve or something.
"We thought she could give it a bit of rest and walk it off.
"Then she said, 'Mummy, my legs are sleeping'.
"I panicked but I'm quite good with drama, so I brushed it off, wrapped a towel around her and said, 'It's all right.'"
Her dad carried her back to their hotel where she had a nap. When woke she still could feel nothing so her parents took her to a local hospital before she was transferred to Faro for more tests.
At first, medics thought Nakita had a lesion on her spine and was suffering from an infection triggered by a disorder called transverse myelitis.
They put her on two intensive five-day courses of steroids but there was no improvement.
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Baffled doctors eventually allowed her to fly home a month after the accident and brave Nakita was admitted to Bristol Children's Hospital.
It was there that insurance worker Russell and Natasha, who are separated but remain close, were told that their daughter would probably never walk again.
After spending Christmas at home, a doctor gave them the devastating news on January 3.
Natasha said: "Her words were, 'We have spent a lot of time on the internet over the last few days. We have agreed that this is what we think it is.'
"She is one in 64 to be diagnosed with it and she is the youngest case ever. Most of the others were in their 20s and in surfing capitals like Hawaii.
"I said, 'What does that mean? Is she going to walk again?' and she said, 'We are ever so sorry but it is unlikely she is ever going to walk again.'
"I was an absolute mess. I can remember my heart just breaking.";
After six months on, brave Nakita returned to school and does daily physio exercises, and her mum says she has taken everything in her stride.
Nakita, who is going to watch Disney on Ice for her ninth birthday next month, said: "I can still get around a lot of places.
"I can also go up the stairs myself and I can get outside and go across the road to school.
"I think I have dealt with it all well. I think other children should know what I have gone through."
Her mum added: "This time last year we were getting ready to go on holiday and this year we are doing things with Nakita in a wheelchair.
"She is still the same person and she is able to do the same things, but she can't move her legs.
"Every day I could break down, but I don't. It just makes me think, don't take life for granted because this could happen to anyone at any time."
She added: "Nakita has been amazing, but she has just been Nakita. I couldn't be more proud of how she has dealt with it.
"She says, 'I will walk again' and we are hopeful. Never is a long time."
The family are trying to raise £15,000 for electrical stimulation equipment, which applies electrical pulses to paralysed muscles to improve their function.
To donate, visit
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