Gra, 59, was left with shattered plastic shunts in her head (2025)

A grandmother who has been left with shattered plastic shunts in her skull and living in debilitating pain says she feels 'abandoned' by the NHS.

Sarah Amrbose's struggles began on September 13, 2007, when a surgery for a slipped disc in her spine went awry whilst in Spain, and her dura - the layers of connective tissue that protect the brain and spinal cord - was mistakenly sliced.

After being sent home, her mattress became saturated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) - a liquid surrounding the brain - and she was urgently rushed back to the hospital while slipping in and out of consciousness.

The now 59-year-old was quickly rushed into the operating room in a bid to repair the 5cm-long wound in her spine, but it was only made worse, resulting in an 8cm tear and a three-month stay in the Spanish hospital.

After three rounds of meningitis, she was sent home, because the wound appeared to have healed - yet she was still leaking CSF fluid, leaving her with debilitating head pain and more health complications that would follow.

Her life abroad was brought to an end by the ordeal as she could no longer care for herself independently, so in 2008 she moved back to the UK, where her David became her full-time carer as she is now physically unable to 'live without' his help.

Since returning to British soil, Sarah sought advice from around 11 neurosurgeons between 2008 and 2013 alone, with all telling her she had no CSF leak despite an interventional neuroradiologist at Duke Hospital in the USA confirming otherwise.

And despite a glue patch procedure momentarily stopping the fluid oozing into her body and alleviating some of her symptoms, a spine chord simulator (SCS) - used to treat chronic pain - which was inserted on a clinical trial basis in the UK, sparked another devastating leak.

Over a decade later, Sarah continues to suffer with bowel and mobility issues that cause her to fall over and smash the plastic shunts attempting to stop the CSF fluid from pouring into her body, out of her nose, and into her throat.

Now largely dependent on a walker, she is unable to venture outside the confines of her bedroom and bathroom. Still, she hopes treatment in the USA could improve her quality of life and allow her to be a grandmother and a mother once more.

She told MailOnline: 'I don't have a quality of life. I have a very miserable awful life. I cry so much, I have so much weakness, and chest pains. I just can't carry on.

'It's been an awful 18 years, and the chance to go to America if enough money is raised to get there… I just desperately need help, I can't carry on living life this way. I want to be able to be a mother and a grandma.'

She added: 'I can't be better without help. Being a sociable person or a good person is impossible when I am living my life bed to sofa back to bed - with a fair few parties in the bathroom to straining to pass the tiniest amounts of urine'

CSF is a clear colourless liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord - and its function is to protect both from any possible injuries of infection, according to John Hopkins Medicine.

When this fluid leaks into the body, whether is via a hole in the dura caused by a head injury, or by increased pressure in the head, it is very serious and requires immediate medical treatment.

According to the Mayo Clinic, spinal CSF leak can cause neck or shoulder pain, ringing in the ears, changes in hearing, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, changes in vision as well as changes in behaviour or the ability to think clearly.

A cranial CSF leak - which is when the fluid emanates from a hole in the skull - could cause clear, watery draining from one side of the nose or ear, hearing loss, a metallic taste in the mouth and meningitis.

In a bid to stop Sarah's CSF leaks, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London placed plastic shunts in the grandmother's head, but due her mobility issues she would fall, which would cause them to shatter.

They attempted to repair it twice again, but she fell again, shattering the plastic surgical tubes in her skull.

And unfortunately, the shunts used to drain the excess CSF fluid only continued to break, leaving doctors with very few alternatives on how they could treat the issue.

In a last-ditch attempt to try and reduce Sarah's pain they attempted to perform a glue patch procedure in a bid to seal the CSF leaks, but to no avail.

All three attempts failed, so Sarah sought out help from the Imperial Trust who she claims said they could see further leaks, and attempted to repair her shattered shunts - but they blew once again.

By this point the lower backbone area of Sarah's spine - the lumbar area - had become extremely 'swollen and baggy' to the bones where 'disintegrating' due to the pressure of the CSF fluid.

'My lumbar spine is and was pressing on all the nerves and causing so many issues. One of those bones had cracked and probably more have since,' she explained.

The neurosurgery department hoped to carry out a surgical operation where the damaged parts of Sarah's spine would be removed.

As a part of this huge surgery, they would also perform a dural reduction to dramatically lessen the volume and pressure of CSF in her lumbar region as well as multi wrap Sarah's spine to stop the leaks.

She claims there were also plans to administer new artificial bone parts into her spine as well as remove and replace the shattered shunts in her skull.

But she alleges she was 'abandoned' by the hospital as they couldn't fund the surgery three and a half years ago.

'I was hoping they would be prepared to do the surgery,' she added: 'I was completely and utterly dumped.'

Explaining the difficulty she faces everyday, she added: '[CSF fluid] leaks the fluid down my nose, out of my eyes, down into my ears and down into my throat and chokes me whenever I am flat.

'The amount of time I have collapsed, crashed, fallen over and had a back eye on my face. I've now got split discs in my neck and my brain has sunken due to low pressure.

She added: 'I'm quite a bit deaf and have lost a lot of my vision but no one would help me in England.'

Although she has been able to seek some treatment in Spain thanks to a medical card she received during her time there, there was not much that could be done to help her neurosurgicaly there either, ultimately leading to her decision to head to the US.

'I need them to give me a chance to have a quality of life, because I don't have a quality of life,' she tearfully shared.

'The pain is 24 hours a day non-stop. I am in severe pain from the roots of my hair down to my toenails, every single part of my body - I cry so much.

'And because of the severe issues with my bowel and bladder, everything has to be completely liquid.'

She added: 'The minute I put my electric bed up my face fills with fluid coming out of my head and down and it fills up my throat and chokes me.

'There have been many times where I can't breathe and as soon as I sit up - bang - the pressure plummets very quickly

'Every single day, I am in floods of tears and the only thing that perks me up and cheers me up is lying flat in the bed and watching sports.'

She added: 'The only good part of me is that my heart, whilst it is bad with chest pains, it's full of love for everybody.'

A UCLH spokesperson said: 'We understand the situation is distressing and we always discuss the safest options for managing conditions with our patients.'

A Imperial College Healthcare Trust spokesperson said: 'Our clinicians consider a wide range of factors in relation to treatment options, including the patient's views and goals as well as the latest evidence and opinions on safety and outcomes.

'These are often very challenging issues to balance, especially with complex illnesses where the evidence base is often very limited.'

MailOnline has approached the CSF Leak Association for comment.