Long road ahead

By Lia Bichel
A NARRE Warren teenager is unable to bend his back after having surgery for scoliosis and battling a debilitating infection.
But Jesse Rotzer’s mother Jude Ransford does not blame the hospital for what happened.
Now she is asking for community support so her son can sit comfortably in a car again.
The seventeen-year-old Dandenong Valley Special Development School student was 14 when he was diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis – a type of spinal deformity.
As Jesse got older, the deformity worsened and doctors feared his lungs, heart and spinal cord could be crushed and he could die.
Jesse was on a waiting list to receive major spinal surgery for 16 months before finally receiving the nine-hour surgery in August in which two metal rods were inserted to straighten his spine.
Jesse’s vertebrae were fused, so most of his spine was one big bone to prevent his scoliosis returning.
Shortly after his hospital release, Jesse received a major infection which left him unable to feed himself or communicate and caused him to hallucinate.
“Before the surgery he could do everything. He was social, popular, outgoing. He loved to help everyone,” Ms Ransford said.
“After the surgery, it was quite horrific. I thought he had brain damage. I didn’t think we would get him back.”
Eight weeks after the surgery, the skin on Jesse’s back split open and fluid leaked out of the three-centimetre wound.
Doctors had to perform three surgeries in one week to drain the infected injury.
Jesse, who is six foot tall, is now unable to twist or bend and has trouble getting into the family car.
Ms Ransford said she and Jesse were bracing for a “long road ahead” but did not blame the hospital for what had happened.
Ms Ransford is unable to work because she has arthritis and fibromyalgia and is cared for by her partner.
She and her partner are also full-time carers for one of Ms Ransford’s three other children who is severely intellectually impaired.
Ms Ransford said she was asking for someone to donate a function space so she can hold a trivia fund-raiser night for Jesse to raise money for a new vehicle.
Anyone wanting to help Jesse Rotzer can contact Ms Ransford on 9703 1527 or 0425 720 553.
Anyone wanting to donate money can do so into ANZ bank account under the name Jesse Rotzer, BSB 013352, account number 269566883.