This womam can go out on her own for the first time in 25 years thanks to a robot called Rosa

For 25 years Leanne Hall suffered up to ten epileptic seizures a day leaving her unable to leave the house by herself and forcing her to abandon her dream of becoming a nursery nurse.

Now, the 31-year-old from Hull has been seizure-free for 12 months since she became the first person in the UK to undergo pioneering robotic neurosurgery at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

“It had completely changed my life,” says Leanne, who is hoping her experience will inspire other people to have the procedure.

“It is taking a lot of getting used to as my ‘normal’ was having constant seizures. The first time I went out to the park after the operation on my own was amazing. I felt free for the first time in 25 years.”

Surgery when she was six and then again at eight to remove a brain tumour left Leanne with epilepsy and taking up to 12 different drugs as she battled to control the seizures.

“I started having seizures when I was six and had periods of home schooling because of it. It wasn’t just dangerous for me but for the other children as well and the school weren’t happy to take any responsibility,” explains Leanne. “I did attend college when I was 18, just after I had brain surgery for the third time, to become a registered nursery nurse and hoped to work with children, but my daily seizures made that impossible.

“It has been really hard, especially as you get older and everyone else is going out, getting jobs, getting married and just leading a normal life. But you just have to get on with it and I have been so lucky to have such amazing parents and family who have been so unbelievably supportive.

“It’s affected all of the family massively. This has taken over all of our lives,” she said.

“When I was little, I wasn’t allowed to play out much so my brother and sister weren’t allowed either because my mum felt so bad letting them play and not me. It starts to make you feel depressed not being able to do anything by yourself and always waiting for the next seizure to happen.

“It’s been a thing that my family has had to learn to grow up with but we’ve all supported each other and been there for each other and that’s what it’s all about.”

When all treatment options available to her in Hull were exhausted, Leanne had to take her case to her MP to enable her to be referred to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital for the pioneering surgery.

“It was there I met surgeon Mr Dev Bhattacharyya and he told me about ROSA, the surgical robot, and how he wanted to use her to operate on me,” explains Leanne. “I was a bit nervous after I went home and googled it but ROSA really offered me hope where before there was none. I knew I was the dummy run for everyone who would come after me as it had never been done before in this country, but that was one of the factors in me making the decision to go ahead with it.”

Leanne was at extra risk of a potential bleed on the brain because of her three previous brain operations.

“But I couldn’t think about that, I just thought if this makes me seizure-free then it has been worth it. I was at the point of desperation.”

On May 8 last year surgeons at the Hallamshire Hospital used the ground breaking ROSA surgical assistant robot – funded by Neurocare Charity – to pinpoint precisely in her brain where the seizures were coming from prior to operating.

Leanne’s family helped raise £25,000 towards the £250,000 cost of the ROSA equipment making her surgery possible.

At the time, Sheffield consultant neurosurgeon Mr Bhattacharyya said: “We are delighted to be the first NHS hospital in the UK to offer patients world-class robotic neurosurgery. Through its pinpoint precision we are now able to reach areas of the brain we would previously not have been able to, which is fantastic news for patients.

“We are moving increasingly towards minimally-invasive medical interventions. Robotics, GPS-like systems and error correction algorithms allow us to perform more complex procedures with less risk.

“Robotic surgery eliminates mechanistic errors and achieves sub-millimetre accuracy every time as well as taking a lot less time to perform the surgery.

Beverley Webster, chair at Neurocare, said: “We are so fortunate in Sheffield to have some of the best neurosurgeons in the country and they deserve the very best equipment we can provide. We never cease to be amazed by the courage of patients like Leanne and her family who have helped us to achieve this milestone and she is a living testament of just how transformational ROSA is.”

As for Leanne, she is now starting to think about the future. “I am still getting used to it. The first day without a seizure was strange and then the first week, then month and then it was six months with no seizure.

“I now love to go running and recently did a 5k for Neurocare to say thank you for everything they have done. I couldn’t run before as it would bring on a seizure. I still worry that they will return, but I see my consultant again in July and am hoping he will say that I might be able to get a job.

“I would love to become a nurse and might start by volunteering on the children’s wards. And eventually I would like to get my own place, get married and maybe have a family. All the things people normally take for granted.

“For the first time, I can allow myself to think about all the things I can do now, rather than all the things I can’t. It is just incredible.”