FOR MOST 11-year-olds life can be pretty scary, settling into secondary school and finding new friends.

But for Cumnor schoolgirl Gulshat Kadyrova, known to her friends as Lily, life proves even harder.

Forced to wear a constrictive back brace for 24 hours a day, she also has the constant worry about affording the life-saving operation she needs.

She was born without hip sockets but, thanks to Oxford Mail readers, £15,000 was raised in 2006 for her first life-changing operation.

But she now needs a final £35,000 operation next year to fix her spine. It is not available on the NHS due to her visa conditions.

Gulshat, who started at Matthew Arnold School this month, said: “I have to wear the brace all day and I get really annoyed and frustrated with it. It means I can’t do much bending or anything like that. It hurts.

“When I take it off, I feel so much better but I’m not allowed to do that for very long.”

She has three braces which hold her body in place. They are covered with colourful flower and butterfly designs.

Gulshat has a severely curved spine and without the brace, the curvature would crush her internal organs and make it difficult to breathe.

She said: “I have to wear it when I’m sleeping and I can sometimes take it off for PE but I’d like to be able to do more.

“It means I can’t bend properly and I just don’t want to wear it anymore.”

Gulshat came to Oxford from Turkmenistan when she was six with her mother Bahar.

She remembers little of the first fundraising campaign.

She said: “I don’t remember much from the first time, but it’s strange that people I don’t know helped me.

“We’ve got a book of all the pictures and things that were in the paper and we like to look at them.”

Friends hope an event at Oxford Town Hall on Friday, September 30, will raise the necessary money.

The evening will involve a five-course meal, singing waiters, jazz band and a late night dance.

They have already sold 100 tickets, which cost £100, but many more are still available.

Mum Bahar said: “I want to say thank you to everyone from the very bottom of my heart.

“Even people who don’t know us, they are happy to help us and it’s amazing.

“They will be giving my daughter a future. And that’s irreplaceable.”

To buy a ticket, contact Colin Walsh at colinwalshasc@ gmail.com or 01865 421276, or John Morley on morley@ arjan.net or 01865 864439.

Visit gulshatfund.org.uk for more information.