A sporty school boy who was told he may never walk again after waking up paralysed due to a rare spinal tumour miraculously took his first steps just five weeks later. Harry Goulden experienced sudden neck pain in October 2024, but when the 10-year-old boy woke the next day, he was paralysed and had "no power in his legs at all". An emergency dash to A&E and an MRI scan uncovered a walnut-sized tumour on the youngster's spine which had caused a blood clot, paralysing him from the chest down.
He was swiftly transferred to King’s College Hospital, London, for an urgent operation to remove the clot and part of the tumour, to give him the best chance of recovery. His consultant neurosurgeon said that such tumours are extremely rare, having seen only a "handful" in the past decade. Against all odds, after intensive physiotherapy, Harry has astonished medical professionals by walking again, returning to the football pitch, and continuing his active lifestyle.
His mum Dr Miriam Fine-Goulden said: "Nobody expected him to recover as quickly and successfully as he has done, not the surgeon, not the neurologist, not the physiotherapists – but he did. As soon as he found out it was a tumour, he decided it was something he could overcome and he would be able to walk again. He is a really sporty kid, he loves football and running around. His recovery was really remarkable and we didn’t expect this quickly that he’d essentially be back to normal.".
