08 Sep

Debbie's Story: A Custom Spinal Brace, Built for Comfort and Confidence

In March 2026, Debbie covered over 74 miles in her wheelchair in support of the Stroke Association's '74 Miles in March' fundraiser, her German Shepherd, Narla, at her side. It's the kind of goal that would have seemed impossible without the right support in place. "Sitting in the brace is the most comfortable thing in the world," Debbie says of the custom Steeper spinal brace that took several attempts, a lot of listening, and a fair bit of trial and error to get it exactly right. Through paralysis, a stroke, and a series of complex health challenges, Debbie kept looking for solutions, and with the help of her Steeper orthotists, she eventually found one that fit, quite literally!

By her own admission, Debbie is a stubborn and fiercely resourceful individual who always has something on the go. "I'm very much an ideas person," she says, and it shows! She built a career at the Crown Prosecution Service, working her way up from office junior to senior management before her health complications forced her to pivot. From running a courier business with her then partner, to teaching herself to crochet on a hospital ward and giving away handmade animals to fellow patients, to decorating golf balls to jazz up her wheelchair. She has never been one to take "no" for an answer, and she has never let setbacks slow her down. Not even after a routine surgery for kidney stones left her paralysed from the waist down.

How Debbie Became Paralysed

"I became paralysed five years ago. I went into the hospital for an epidural to have some kidney stones removed, and the epidural reacted badly. We still don't know what caused the reaction. But the needle went into my back, I had a reaction to it, and I've been paralysed ever since," says Debbie. "At the time, no one was sure whether the paralysis would be permanent or temporary. To help build my strength back up, I was placed into a rehabilitation unit, but I chose to go home after two weeks."

A Difficult Road: Health Complications After Paralysis

Debbie came home to a house ill-equipped for her new reality - a two-storey home with steep stairs, and no wheelchair; she was confined to the hospital bed, incongruously placed in the living room. Eventually, the home was adapted, and Debbie learnt how to navigate her new routine, determined to get out and enjoy life to the fullest. But just as her wheels started turning again, she was hospitalised with a respiratory infection after her third case of COVID-19, she lost all sensation in her right side as a result of a stroke, her bowel shut down and was subsequently removed and replaced with a stoma, only for it to go into overdrive leading to malabsorption and the fitting of a PEG, and she went into septic shock, all in the space of roughly three years.

"I'd lost 13kg in five months because I couldn't absorb enough nutrients from eating. I was really struggling, and my body just couldn't carry on." Debbie explains, "I was trying to gain my strength back after my stroke, and I tore a tendon in my arm from pushing myself too hard; it affected everything! My feet even started turning inward." And that's when she came into contact with the Steeper orthotists at her local NHS trust.

The Search for the Right Spinal Brace

To keep her feet in the correct alignment, Debbie was prescribed AFOs, but it was during the fitting of the AFOs that she offhandedly mentioned the pain in her back and neck to her orthotist, Olivia. After advising Debbie on the best route to referral, a game of trial and error ensued over a range of different spinal braces to support Debbie's posture in her wheelchair while also considering her catheter, PEG and stoma. "We tried several braces, each one solving one problem only to create another - riding up, slumping, catching on her stoma or her line. The hyperextension brace was giving us the outcomes we wanted in terms of pain and thoracic extension, and it avoided the areas we needed it to avoid, but it still wasn't quite right." explained Olivia, "From a clinician's point of view, we do have to be really careful with bracing, because sometimes a brace can cause too much overcompensation, which can encourage muscle wastage and weakness. So it was a tricky decision."

Frustrated but not defeated, Debbie decided to look into her options herself. "I happened to look up what else was out there and contacted Steeper Group to ask about going private," she says, not realising that Olivia worked for Steeper too. It was a coincidence, she'd found the company online, entirely unaware Steeper had been in front of her the whole time. After a private quote from Kate, a Specialist Clinical Orthotist at Steeper Clinic, Debbie went back to Olivia, who saw a better path: arranging the brace through the NHS instead, and working with Kate to make it happen.

Designing a Custom Bivalve Spinal Brace

Getting the brace right meant Kate and Olivia had to solve a puzzle that few standard designs could handle. Debbie has a petite frame with prominent bony areas, a stoma, PEG, a central line and a suprapubic catheter. Alongside fragile skin, these needs meant an off-the-shelf brace was not suitable. The answer was a custom bivalve spinal brace, complete with specifically placed windows and a bold cheetah print supplied by our Eqwal partners, Limbtex to capture Debbie's personality. To make the brace, Debbie was placed onto a vacuum bean bag, which moulded precisely to the contours of her back, before being digitally scanned to accurately capture her shape. The scan was used to design the brace using Eqwal's CAD software, with our spinal specialist team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, before it was manufactured and completed at our Leeds headquarters.

Life With a Spinal Brace: Comfort and Confidence

The difference the brace has made goes far beyond posture. Debbie's headaches, once frequent, are barely there anymore. She can breathe easier, no longer squashed to one side by the lean that used to press on her ribs, and her stoma sits comfortably in place. Even without the brace, her posture holds better for longer. Debbie comments, "Sitting in the brace is the most comfortable thing in the world! I just wish I could sleep in it!"

"When I first met Olivia and the Steeper team, I wasn't in a strong place physically. I'd just started Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) to help build my strength back up, and from day one, I felt so listened to. The support was there, there was always a solution they wanted to try," says Debbie. "I've never felt abandoned, even when something hadn't worked. It's never been a case of 'sorry, it doesn't work, goodbye', they've always found something else to try. It's so lovely to have someone who actually listens."

Olivia comments, "Whenever I present to student orthotists or soon to be graduate orthotists, I always tell them how important it is to connect with patients and build that relationship. To really listen. Especially in orthotics when you're likely to see people for a long time, such as paediatric patients. In Debbie's case, I felt she needed to be heard, given everything else going on with her health. We didn't get the brace right the first time, but we kept talking about what outcome she wanted and what we were both trying to achieve. Having that strong clinician–patient relationship meant we could figure it out together. It takes a bit of the pressure off from both sides, and helps build a better foundation for the whole relationship. It's something I always tell people going into this field: it's built on communication and people skills as much as anything clinical."

Debbie sums up her health journey thus far in three words: Stubborn, Positive, and Solutions. Stubborn in the way she never took "no" for an answer and didn't give in easily. Positive in the way she felt heard and supported with her care from her Steeper team. And solutions in the way that, together, this process enabled us to create a made-to-measure spinal brace suited entirely to Debbie's needs, offering her comfort and support every day.

With this newfound relief, Debbie can look forward again. Kept busy by long walks with Narla, now possible again thanks to the brace. Quiet hours spent crocheting and decorating her wheelchair with glittery golf balls, just for the joy of it. And her fundraising, which has already brought in around £500 for her local stroke unit, on top of her proceeds from the latest 74 miles in March challenge!