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![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-in-wheelchair-with-dad-body1.jpg\")
\nEmily and her dad Matthew Roberts.<\/p>\n
(SACRAMENTO) <\/p>\n
In May 2025, fourth-grader Emily Roberts was camping near Cottonwood, California when she awoke one morning completely paralyzed from her left waist down to her left foot. She couldn\u2019t walk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt very scared,\u201d Emily said. \u201cI had to leave our trip to go to the hospital again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily\u2019s mother, Cecille Roberts, is haunted by the memory of their drive to the emergency department. \u201cIt\u2019s the worst experience, to hear your child screaming in pain, saying she wishes her life would be over, so she won\u2019t hurt anymore,\u201d Cecille said.<\/p>\n
A year of frightening symptoms
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\nEmily and her dad Matthew Roberts.<\/p>\n
Emily had already endured a year of worsening, unexplained symptoms. Usually an active kid playing softball, hiking and camping, she began to experience back pain that progressed to leg weakness and incontinence.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily just screamed and cried at home,\u201d Cecille said. \u201cShe\u2019d have bathroom accidents at school because she didn\u2019t have the sensations to tell her to go. She was so embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was repeatedly misdiagnosed and sent home from hospitals and clinics with pain medication that didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n
Paralysis leads to emergency spine surgery and discovery of aggressive bone cyst
\n![\"MRI](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mri-emily-spine-bodyright2.jpg\")
\nMRI image of Emily\u2019s spine before her first surgery.<\/p>\n
Everything changed when UC Davis Children\u2019s Hospital pediatric neurosurgeon\u00a0Cameron Sadegh<\/a>\u00a0received a transfer request. \u201cBased on her symptoms, I knew something was compressing her spinal cord,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a person starts losing sensation, doctors have 24-48 hours to intervene before effects may become permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n Sadegh arranged for Emily to take an air ambulance to UC Davis Children’s Hospital, where he met her and her mother on the helipad late one Saturday night. Within 30 minutes of arrival, she was in surgery with Sadegh and\u00a0UC Davis Spine Center<\/a>\u00a0neurosurgeon\u00a0Rick Price<\/a>.<\/p>\n The emergency procedure removed enough of the lesion and affected vertebra to restore movement to her leg. It also confirmed the cause of her symptoms: an a rare, aggressive lesion weakening her spine and several ribs. Emily needed more surgery.<\/p>\n Further imaging showed the cyst had grown into her chest cavity. The team brought in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery expert\u00a0Gary Raff<\/a>\u00a0to help protect Emily\u2019s left lung. In addition, vascular neurosurgeon\u00a0Branden Cord<\/a>\u00a0prepared Emily for safer spine reconstruction surgery. To reduce blood loss, he carefully injected material into blood vessels feeding the cyst to block them, a procedure called\u00a0embolization<\/a>.<\/p>\n Price brought a special area of expertise to the team: the development and use of advanced virtual and augmented reality tools. He used these tools to create an immersive 3D visualization of the tumor, allowing the team to \u201cwalk through\u201d Emily\u2019s anatomy. This helped them prepare the safest approach and then achieve maximum accuracy during surgery. \u201cThese tools help us better protect the spinal cord and stabilize the spine,\u201d Price said.<\/p>\n Their planning paid off: Emily\u2019s final surgery was a success.<\/p>\n After several weeks of physical and occupational therapy in the hospital, she went home with nine carbon fiber screws and one \u201ccage\u201d that reconstructs the vertebral body her surgeons removed. Price chose carbon fiber components to ensure Emily\u2019s best care going forward. While other available metals can cause visual interference, Emily\u2019s carbon fiber components are radiolucent, which means X-rays pass through them easily. They ensure clear medical images as her spinal reconstruction is monitored while she grows.<\/p>\n The hardware also kept her spinal column and spinal cord safe as she healed. Emily has regained strength and her incontinence resolved as well.<\/p>\n By August, she was cleared just in time for fifth grade \u2014 and cheer tryouts. Emily cheered for her first school sports event in January. She loves her black, green and white uniform and the energy of the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t stunt and I can\u2019t tumble, but all the other things I can do,\u201d Emily said. \u201cMy coach told me the other kids will support me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can be a kid again\u201d<\/p>\n This week, Emily and her care team will mark the first anniversary of her successful surgeries as she finishes her school year strong and smiling.<\/p>\n \u201cEmily has been a huge partner in this by telling us how she feels as she heals,\u201d Sadegh said. \u201cWhen kids and their families keep the dialogue open with all of us, they facilitate our team giving them the very best care.\u201d<\/p>\n Her message to her care team: \u201cThank you for getting me to where I am today, so I can be a kid again!\u201d<\/p>\n Related Links:\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(SACRAMENTO) In May 2025, fourth-grader Emily Roberts was camping near Cottonwood, California when she awoke one morning completely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-323780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/price-and-sadegh-ar-during-emily-surgery-widebody.jpg\")
\nPrice (left) and Sadegh used augmented reality headsets to maximize accuracy, including placing Emily\u2019s screws as displayed on the monitor.<\/p>\n![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cameron-sadegh-pullq.jpg\")
When a person starts losing sensation, doctors have 24-48 hours to intervene before effects may become permanent.\u201d \u2014UC Davis Children\u2019s Hospital pediatric neurosurgeon Cameron SadeghVirtual and augmented reality can enhance surgical accuracy<\/p>\n![\"3D](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-vr-rendering-still-body.jpg\")
\nImage from virtual reality rendering video of Emily\u2019s tumor and anatomy.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/emily-cheer-vertical-body.jpg\")
\nEmily demonstrates cheer moves in her school uniform.<\/p>\n