Seven-year-old Monique Jacobs will swim in her family pool this summer.

That may not seem particularly unusual but for Monique, who has spent the past three years in a full body cast, it’s a truly wonderful thing.

Monique wore a full body cast to treat scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, which she developed as a result of surgery as a baby.

The casting was done under general anaesthetic in theatre and was changed every three months as Monique grew.

Each cast had a unique and colourful design, even her dolls and bears had their own cast (pictured below), thanks to the orthotics team at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and lead spinal consultant Dr Catherine Cartwright.

Monique was the first child to receive this treatment in South Australia - which is now being used to improve the lives of several other children.

On January 22 Monique’s cast was taken off for the final time. She still needs to wear a brace to keep her spine developing correctly, but she can finally enjoy the pool or beach on a hot Adelaide summer’s day.

“Now she’s got a brace which can come on and off, and she’s allowed to take it off for one hour a day,” Monique’s mother, Chantele, says.

“She loves it, especially with the weather now. She’s allowed to go in the pool and the shower and just being able to scratch her back.”

Chantele says Monique’s treatment was a new technique and that the family felt lucky to be able to access it in South Australia.

“We’re five years down, but I feel like we’ve still got 15 to go,” she says.

“She’ll have to be monitored well into adolescence to see what her spine is going to do, but hopefully by taking these measures we’ll avoid surgery in the future.”

Five other children are currently being treated with Risser casts at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The Risser cast service for children was introduced in South Australia in 2020. Previously families needed to travel interstate.

The treatment hopes to reduce the need for surgery later in life or enable children with scoliosis to have much smaller and safer operations which have less impact on their quality of life and ability to function day-to-day.