We felt we had been given our house back

We felt we had been given our house back."One effect of the surgery has been disorientating for her and disconcerting for her friends For the first time for years she can look people in the eye. Her surgeon, Mr Gill, said: "The impact on her socially is hard to imagine. When she met people in the street, she could never see their faces Now, when people meet her, they look away. They are not used to making eye contact and neither is she."The operation has restored her to society. But while normal social interaction brings many pleasures, it can also be a strain, especially for one whose face has for so long been buried in her chest. While Sue Leeming has recovered well from the physical effects of the surgery, adjustment to the social effects may take longer.. Two years ago Clive Hollick, New Labour peer and nouveau media baron, embarked on a radical project, merging his recently acquired daily and Sunday Express titles, sacking dozens of journalists and executives, creating Britain's first seven-day tabloid newspaper operation.

For the first time, I can drink out of a wine glass without using a straw."One of the perils of being forced to stare at the ground was that she had been liable to bump into anything at head height. At their home in Gosport, Hampshire, her husband, Aidan, had fitted the kitchen cupboards with musical chimes to warn her when the doors stood open. Three months on, Mrs Leeming is still learning how to walk again. After years looking at her feet, she finds it hard to balance with her head up, unable to see where her feet are But she has no doubt about the benefits: "I am ecstatic.

I can breathe properly, and when I go shopping I can see more than just the bottom shelves. Mr Gill said: "One of the major problems she faced was surviving this massive transfusion."The results of the surgery can be seen tomorrow on Tomorrow's World (BBC1, Wednesday, 7.30pm). When you're faced with a situation like that you just have to carry on," said Mr Gill. Mrs Leeming received over 50 units of blood, equivalent to 25 litres, and her husband, Aidan, was warned more than once that she might not pull through.The procedure involved drilling into the back of her neck to break and realign the bent vertebrae. Mr Gill had to work within a 2mm margin of error, avoiding the vertebral artery that supplies the brain and the spinal cord. The smallest slip could have killed or paralysed her.With her neck bent so severely, the surgery had to be carried out from the back, which is more dangerous than going in from the front. Lying on her stomach, her head was below the level of the operating table, and pressure built up in the veins until the blood vessels started "popping".