Every school break, 11-year-old Maisie McQuaid and her family leave their farm in rural Ireland and fly across the Atlantic Ocean, not for vacation but for a hospital appointment that has shaped nearly her entire childhood. Maisie has progressive infantile scoliosis, a condition that twists the spine into an abnormal curve, and for eight years she has traveled to Shriners Children's Philadelphia for the specialized care her family says simply was not available near home.
As reported by CBS News Philadelphia, Maisie began traveling to the hospital when she was about 3 years old, after her spinal curve had become severe enough as a toddler to press on her stomach and kidneys. Her mother, Geraldine McQuaid, said the family had few nearby treatment options near their farm in Ireland and were not equipped to treat Maisie themselves. “The decision was really made for us. It was to save Maisie's life at the time,” Geraldine said.
Since then, the McQuaids have coordinated their trips to Philadelphia around Maisie's school breaks, according to the station's report. She has been treated with casts and high-tech, custom-made braces that have to be refitted again and again as she grows, a process the family has repeated for eight years running.
Doctors Say the Curve Has Been Cut in Half
Dr. Joshua Pahys, who has treated Maisie, said the treatment reduced her spinal curvature from roughly 60 degrees to about 30 degrees, per the same account, essentially cutting it in half. He said his team has managed to hold the curve at that smaller degree for the full eight years while trying to avoid surgery altogether, and so far, Maisie has avoided going under the knife.
Earlier coverage of Maisie's case from Northern Ireland outlets described different numbers at different points in her treatment. A 2018 report from Cool FM quoted her mother saying Maisie's curve measured 55 degrees before casting and 27 degrees after a follow-up X-ray, while a Tyrone Constitution report that December put the curve at 45 degrees, describing it as 10 degrees lower than when her treatment journey began that August. The CBS figures reflect a different stage of Maisie's long-running care, and the dossier of reporting does not reconcile exactly how the various measurements line up over time.
A Single Hospital Visit, Many Specialists
Part of what has kept the family returning to Shriners Children's Philadelphia, according to the hospital itself, is the ability to see multiple providers in one trip. The hospital says scoliosis patients there are able to see the wide spectrum of different healthcare providers in that one single visit, according to Shriners Children's own account — a setup that spares a family already crossing an ocean from juggling separate appointments across different specialists.
That kind of consolidated, long-term bracing approach lines up with what broader scoliosis research has found. A review on early onset scoliosis treatment published on PubMed notes that bracing may delay curve progression, particularly in idiopathic early-onset cases, though outcomes depend on curve magnitude, the patient's age, how consistently the brace is worn, and family support — all factors that have defined Maisie's eight years of transatlantic visits.
Braces, Jumps, and a Love for Philadelphia
The custom braces Maisie wears are not always comfortable, but by her own account they have not slowed her down. CBS News Philadelphia reports that she described the casts as a little uncomfortable but said they have allowed her to be active and even ride horses — including taking her horse over jumps back home. Her mother, Geraldine, has credited the hospital staff with the care, encouragement, and optimism that have carried the family through years of appointments.
For Maisie, the repeated trips have become something more than medical necessity. “I've loved every second of it because they're all so genuine,” she said, according to the station's report, which also notes that her hospital trips give her a chance to explore Philadelphia between appointments. Eight years after that first visit as a toddler, the girl from rural Ireland is still crossing the ocean — curve held steady, surgery still avoided, and a city on the other side of the Atlantic that has become a second, familiar stop on her calendar.
