Hayden teen walking tall again

COEUR d’ALENE — Five years ago, there was a chance Anne Sinclair might not walk again.

Today, the 15-year-old will be running Bloomsday in Spokane.

“It’s a miracle, really, from where she was,” said John Thomas Sinclair, her father.

His daughter, sitting next to him, smiled when asked what it would mean to complete the 7.46-mile course.

“Pretty cool,” she said. “Crazy. Honestly, I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to do this.”  

The Hayden teen will be joined by an entourage, including her parents, siblings and relatives, all wearing matching T-shirts with the words “Walk By Faith” in bold, blue lettering, and “Anne Strong” underneath.

It was a long road to get here.

About five years ago, Anne Sinclair was a typical kid, full of energy, feeling fine and taking ballet.

Then one night, she felt intense back pain. She thought perhaps she had just slept on it wrong, but it quickly got worse.

“Crazy pain off and on,” she said. “There was no comfortable position.”

It became hard to even get out of bed, so her parents took her to Sacred Heart Medical Center. There, doctors conducted tests and found a large blood clot pushing against her spinal cord.

“They didn’t think I would walk again,” Anne said.

Doctors performed a laminectomy, which according to Johns Hopkins Medicine “is a type of surgery in which a surgeon removes part or all of the vertebral bone (lamina). This helps ease pressure on the spinal cord or the nerve roots that may be caused by injury, herniated disk, narrowing of the canal (spinal stenosis), or tumors. A laminectomy is considered only after other medical treatments have not worked.”

“The next morning, I could feel my legs again,” Anne said.

With help, she began walking again and the operation seemed like a success.

But about two years ago, she developed consistent, more intense neck pain, and basic activities hurt. An X-ray revealed her neck was curved far more than normal, almost an S curve, "pretty drastic," her dad said. Vertebrates were pushing against each other, perhaps a result of the laminectomy affecting the neck’s structural integrity.

The family turned to Shriners Children's Spokane. 

She lived at the hospital for three months with constant halo traction and underwent spinal surgery April 17. Doctors put in two titanium rods to stabilize her neck and prevent paralysis. She was released April 23.

John Thomas Sinclair credited Shriners with being a “phenomenal organization” and said Anne came to know the staff well.

“Shriners are really the people who put her back together to live a long-term, normal life,” he said. "Without Shriners, she could have faced paralysis again.”

Once again, the determined redhead had to learn to walk, wearing neck braces to prevent injury. Slowly, she regained strength and mobility. 

“It was really hard for me to walk,” Anne said.

While she is stronger today, there is still pain at times as she resumes a normal teenager’s life and goes to physical therapy.

She decided to do Bloomsday when she heard Shriners Children's Hospital in Spokane was the event’s charity of choice.

To prepare for Bloomsday, Anne walked often and ran a little. She beams with delight at knowing that today she will cover her longest distance yet.

“I thought I couldn’t do it,” she said. “God healed me. He was the only reason I made it through this whole experience.”

Her dad smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Pretty awesome,” he said.