Natalie's story: The life-prolonging surgery that became a 'death sentence'
This Is Why · Sky News
September 24, 202514m 42s
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Show Notes
A woman left with an incurable brain disease following a NHS operation says she feels like she's "living with a death sentence".
Natalie Bralee-Brett was born with the birth defect spina bifida - but doctors told her mother about a new procedure that could improve and prolong her life.
Instead, medical experts now say that operation - which implanted a graft made from a membrane taken from a dead body into her spine - left Natalie with a rare brain condition called iatrogenic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (ICAA).
How did the NHS end up introducing this procedure and how many others are affected by ICAA? Are they entitled to compensation and could something similar happen again?
Niall is joined by Sky's health correspondent Ashish Joshi following his investigation into Natalie's plight.
There is more information from Great Ormond Street Hospital here:
https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/news/statement-regarding-recent-media-coverage-september-2025/
Producer: Araminta Parker
Editor: Mike Bovill