Isabella Lombardo is an Australian child with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy who underwent a selective dorsal rhizotomy procedure at the age of four and a separate

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

surgery at the age of six. Her story was profiled on an episode of ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' in 2018, and in a feature-length documentary film –''The Unknown Upside'', about her surgeries and subsequent treatments which premiered in March 2019.

Life

Lombardo was born to parents Joseph and Libby Lombardo in

Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is 13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Coun ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It was not immediately clear to her doctors or parents that she was born with any type of condition. When she was two months old, Lombardo was still unable to lift her head up on her own. It took two years for doctors to correctly diagnose her with spastic diplegia, which is a form of cerebral palsy. Quadriplegic cerebral palsy prevented her from walking without help from a

walking frame A walker (North American English) or walking frame (British English) is a device that gives support to maintain balance or stability while walking, most commonly due to age-related mobility disability, including frailty. Another common equival ...

or other people, and she only moved independently with a wheelchair. To reduce muscle pain and tension, doctors administered 27 injections every three months. In December 2016, Lombardo's parents elected to take her to

St. Louis Children's Hospital St. Louis Children's Hospital is a dedicated pediatric hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a primary service region covering six states. As the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis Children's ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

to undergo a selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery to potentially improve her ability to walk and to reduce pain. Lombardo did not qualify for the operation in Australia because she was too young. The cost of the surgery reached $100,000. Her recovery took three months, after which she began extensive courses of

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

and

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and ...

. At that time, she was also able to run with the help of a walker and was learning to walk with walking sticks. In July 2018, Lombardo was taken to the BIOSS clinic in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to undergo an experimental bone marrow stem cell surgery. For a month after the procedure, she underwent another round of extensive physiotherapy in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She was also able to take her first independent steps during this time. She was profiled on an August 2018 episode of ''60 Minutes''. In December 2018, she was able to ride a modified bicycle from Queenscliff to Manly. In March 2019, a documentary film directed by Tim Skinner – ''The Unknown Upside,'' chronicled Lombardo's story, where she was screened for the first time.

References

External links

Team Isabella Lombardo official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Isabella Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People with cerebral palsy People from New South Wales Australian people with disabilities