91-Year-Old Woman Dances with Doctor in Halls After Having Spinal Surgery
Whether you’re 2 or 102, spending time doing what you love is important. It doesn’t matter how old we get, we’re always young at heart, right?
This is especially true for 91-year-old Julia Tourtellotte of Summerville, North Carolina. The grandmother and choreographer doesn’t let anything slow her down.
“It just makes me feel good,” Tourtellotte told Journal Scene regarding one of her favorite pastimes — dancing, particularly clogging.
Unfortunately, in 2018 the fit senior started noticing a pain in her leg. At first she went in for shots, but when those no longer helped, Tourtellotte decided to seek out alternative options.
This is where neurosurgeon Dr. Sabino D’Agostino at Trident Medical Center came in. Thanks to an innovative surgery on Tourtellotte’s spine, he was able to get her back in the swing of things in no time.
Dr. D’Agostino used robotic spinal surgery. According to Journal Scene, the surgery was a risk for someone Tourtellotte’s age, but her good health ended up making her a candidate for the procedure.
“She’s pretty remarkable,” Dr. D’Agostino told Journal Scene. “When she showed up in the office I said, ‘Wow, I wish I had half of your energy.'”
It didn’t take long at all for the clogging instructor at Faith Sellers Senior Center to find her rhythm again. WCSC reported Tourtellotte even returned to the hospital a few months after the surgery so she could dance alongside her doctor in celebration.
“She does not let her age slow her down at all,” Dr. D’Agostino told WCSC. “She wants to live life. She was not going to take a backseat to her pain and she wanted help.”
The show included Tourtellotte’s daughter and friends, and the video is heartwarming and remarkable.
“I think I did marginal at best,” D’Agostino said. “That was the most dancing I’ve done since my wedding!”
“I think he did good!” Tourtellotte said of her doctor’s dancing. “We had fun! He said his little girls will love seeing him dance. He’s an awesome doctor.”
Wow! We have to agree with the good doctor on this one. We wish we had this woman’s energy. She doesn’t even appear to break a sweat.
Journal Scene reported it only took 24 hours for the showstopper to be free of pain. The doctor said it was taking the pressure off the pinched nerve that was key.
We’re certainly glad Tourtellotte can keep dancing her days away. We have a feeling she’ll be clogging well past 100!
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