A U.K. teen is now one step closer to walking the catwalks thanks to a radical surgery that straightened her spine and added five inches to her height, it is being reported.
According to the Daily Mail, Josie Chapman recently beat out 5,000 other girls to win a coveted place in a national modeling competition. The girl developed scoliosis two years ago. The condition gave Chapman a twisted S-shaped spine.
But the teen underwent a 10-hour operation to correct the severe curvature, it was reported.
Doctors at Southampton General Hospital placed two titanium rods in her back to straighten her spine and she has had four ribs broken permanently to help flatten her back, the Mail reported.
The teen, from Poole in Dorset, U.K. now stands 5-feet, 6-inches tall — five inches taller than before the surgery, according to the report.
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