AS a baby, Megan Parker’s GP called her the human tortoise.

The 14-year-old was born with a rare spinal disorder and has endured more than 40 operations to correct her twisted back.

But in the past year, the St Helena School pupil has been able to take off the supportive plaster cast she had worn for more than 12 years.

Although she has to use a wheelchair at the school, in Colchester, she is back in the classroom, rather than learning at home.

And as she races around a go-kart track, a tortoise is the last animal she could be compared with.

Mum Tina, of Rowhedge Road, Colchester, said: “Megan’s still fragile and has got to be careful, but she can walk, start to do sport and is so much happier.

“While she will never have a perfectly straight spine, the improvement has been fantastic and it’s great to see her out playing with friends.”

Playing means joining 11-year-old brother Zack, who is a keen kart racer, on the track at Indikart.

Tina said: “Zack has missed out a bit because of Megan’s problems and it’s been difficult for him. At one point when she was in hospital, he was too worried to race, but she just told him to get on with it. He went out and won a competition and gave her the trophy.

“Indikart have been great to us over the years and we used to let Megan sit on someone’s lap just so she could do a lap.

“Driving a kart was one of the first things she wanted to do once she was finally out of the cast. I was very nervous to see her go out, but she loved it. She races with her brother and he lets her get past every now and again.”

Megan is also learning to swim, with a donation from the Colchester lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes paying for lessons at First Strokes, in Stanway.

When she was wearing a cast, swimming was out of the question. It was difficult enough just washing her properly.

Tina said: “It only happened every six months or so and meant taking her plaster off, washing her and then putting her on a traction table to be replastered.

“She’s desperate to learn to swim like all her friends and just loves floating around in the water and feeling free. We can’t thank the Buffaloes enough.”

The final operation to fix Megan’s back took place last summer at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where titanium rods were fitted to reshape her spine.

Tina said: “We were hoping last Christmas would be her first without a brace or plaster, but she caught pneumonia and had to go in to hospital.

“Then one of the screws came loose on the rods holding her spine and that had to be tightened. It hasn’t been easy for her, but now everything seems to have settled down.”

Tina praised her daughter for supporting other children undergoing similar treatment. She said: “Megan was great, telling other children to be strong and how the surgery had worked for her.”