IRISH WOMAN FIRST ADULT IN WORLD TO GET BIONIC SPINE

AN Irish woman has become the first adult in the world to receive a revolutionary REMOTE CONTROLLED 'ROBO SPINE', which uses magnets to combat the effects of scoliosis. Deirdre McDonnell, 34, from Drogheda, County Louth, can now stand tall for the first time after undergoing the pioneering MAGEC rod operation. The operation, also known as the magnetic expansion control system, involves the insertion of a magnetic rod that is screwed onto the spine and controlled externally in order to correct the curvature caused by scoliosis. Up until now, the £15K procedure has only been performed on children, as it was thought only to be effective for early onset scoliosis - typically diagnosed before the age of ten.

Other great stories
ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS

With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .

HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS

Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .

GATEWAY TO THE UNDERWORLD

SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .

PUTIN'S TINY ARMY 

Some parents would gasp at the thought of their children playing with a toy gun, but these Russian children are actually encouraged to take up real arms .

CARE HOME STAFF ALLOWED BOY TO DIE BECAUSE OF HEALTH AND SAFETY FEARS

The family of a disabled boy who died in a tragic accident at a care home have received a four figure payout after an inquest heard carers allowed him to fall rather than restrain him because of "health and safety" fears .

REAL LIFE DOLLS HOUSE

Ever wished you could live in a house just like Barbie's? Canadian sculptor Heather Benning has created the life-size dollhouse of her dreams out a derelict building .

CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .

ABANDONED CARE HOME LIES FORGOTTEN

BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .

I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN

Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .

AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY

STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .

WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD

The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .

NINE YEAR OLD GIRL'S 'PULLED MUSCLE' TURNS OUT TO BE CANCER

A nine year old girl nearly lost her leg after doctors initially misdiagnosed her bone cancer as a pulled muscle .