CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tobias Wilson loves to dance.
“It's like, a good way to get stress out of the way, a good way to clear your mind, and a good way to impress others of course,” Tobias said, laughing. “Dancing just came naturally. The more serious I took it the better I got.”
It was only a year ago when Tobias thought it might be taken away from him, forever.
“I was just more scared than anything,” he remembered.
Dr. Brian Scannell remembers something else.
“He wasn't having any pain which is often times the most common presentation," Scannell said. "Most kids with scoliosis don't initially have pain.”
Tobias already had a fairly large curve and there was still a fair amount of growth left. Dr. Scannell had to break the news to Tobias.
Tobias had a severe case of scoliosis and their best option was surgery.
“He told me about every possible outcome because I was asking a bunch questions," Tobias said.
“For Tobias being a dancer, in particular, that was really, really important for him. He didn't want to lose a lot of that motion because that would affect his moves,” Dr. Scannell said.
Finally, the day came.
“I really didn't know what to expect,” said Tobias. “I knew surgery involved a lot of cutting a lot of opening so I was just like yikes!”
Although he trusted Dr. Scannell he says the surgery was scary. But Tobias said waking up from surgery was even worse.
“My first words were, 'I'm in pain,' and I started crying,” Tobias said.
Tobias began focusing one his goal: to get back to what he loves, dancing.
“Getting back up and having to walk to take those steps was really hard,” he admitted.
Still, Tobias was dancing just a couple months later, surprising his doctor.
“He got back into some of his activities probably a little quicker than I had anticipated.”
Today, Tobias is back to himself, dancing and loving life!
“There aren't any limits anything I can do. I like to inspire as much as possible”