Teen who once hid severe scoliosis now revealing it to help others
LITTLETON - This is the time of year when many schools will conduct scoliosis checks on students. Despite positive diagnoses being rare, roughly 3 million new cases are discovered each year, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
One Littleton teen got the dreaded news at the worst possible time, but has managed to turn it into a positive.
"I was 14 years-old, and it was the end of eighth grade, and we were doing the regular scoliosis health screening," Maddy Welz told WBZ-TV.
That's when Maddy's life was turned upside down. Her school nurse had detected a curve. The Welz family doctor was notified and ordered an X-ray. Almost immediately, he returned the dreaded news.
"He called my parents later that night and said, 'She has severe scoliosis. She needs to get in (Boston Children's Hospital) right away,'" she recalled.
It was a crushing diagnosis for Maddy. It was just days before she was set to start her freshman year at Littleton High School in the fall of 2022.
The scoliosis brace
"I didn't want to show my brace, and so I had to buy a lot of new clothes, which was hard because I used to wear fitted clothes and this time I had to wear baggy clothes to try and hide it," she said.
Beyond the social discomfort was the excruciating physical pain she endured. Maddy wore the brace 18 hours a day to combat her severe scoliosis.
"It hurt a lot. My ribs, it would press on my ribs and throb. It felt like my ribs were going to break and crack," Maddy said.
"Typically, she would come to school with her brace on and then come to my office to take it off," said Littleton High School Nurse Christine Porell.
"You want to give your skin a break so that it doesn't get red or sore," Porell added.
Higgy Bears
The two forged a relationship, but Maddy also sought comfort from others who also have scoliosis. She joined an online support group run by the non-profit organization "Higgy Bears."
"At the time she was bracing and having a really tough time with her brace and she was just looking for support," said Lauren Higginson, founder of Higgy Bears.
Painful scoliosis surgery
By June of 2023, less than a year after her diagnosis, Maddy and her family made the decision to undergo corrective surgery.
"We all went back and forth with deciding if I wanted to wear a painful brace for the next few years or drop the brace and have a really, really major, painful surgery," Maddy said.
Leading support groups
Throughout all of this pain, there was growth. Higginson, who has scoliosis herself, noticed a change in Maddy.
"She's really used her experience through bracing and through surgery to help other kids that might be behind her in their scoliosis journey," Higginson told WBZ.
From keeping her diagnosis a secret to leading the way for others, it's been an astonishing evolution. Maddy is now 16-years-old and a sophomore. She is recovering from surgery and helping other kids in their scoliosis journey.
"She's always the one leading the groups. She's the talker and the supporter, and she's really great," said Higginson.
Maddy downplays her role but does offer this piece of advice to those who are struggling with a scoliosis diagnosis.
"You can have a lot of support, and that eventually, no matter what treatment plan you go through, it will get better," she said.
Maddy leads the bi-weekly Zoom sessions for Higgy Bears. You can find more information about the non-profit at higgybears.com