WHEN Naiomi Hogkinson was a young girl she dreamed of travelling the world competing in dance competitions.

But those dreams were shattered when out of the blue doctors discovered she had fractured her back.

The 15-year-old from Bromley Cross now lives with chronic pain but as she continues her recovery, Naiomi is sharing the story of how her plans in life were changed forever.

Taking ballet lessons from the age of three, dancing was a big part of her growing up and from the age of eight she started taking street dance lessons and was soon competing with her team.

She said: "I loved it! I was rehearsing every day after school. In our first team competition in Blackpool we came second.

"But when I was 12 I just woke up one morning and had a really weird pain in my back. I thought I had just pulled a muscle. It was hurting to sit down, lying down and walking."

Naiomi's Natalie and Darren rushed their daughter to a doctor and she was advised to take pain killers.

However, as the problem persisted and steadily worsened - sometimes leaving the young dancer unable to move - she was eventually sent to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

It was hear she got the diagnosis on November, 2012 that would end her dancing dreams when doctors revealed she had a hair-line fracture in her spine.

Naiomi explained: "It is believed it could have happened through the dancing. Right at the bottom, my back had given way.

"They found it so late that it had already started to heal. They were quick to say I couldn’t dance again no matter how much I wanted to.

"It was horrible, I remember lying in the hospital, with my mum next to me, crying. I had dedicated so much of my time to dancing and it had been taken away in the blink of an eye. It was a really hard time."

Her family juggled life taking care of Naiomi's newly born sister Milly with their eldest having to learn to walk again in hospital.

She underwent physiotherapy every day but, despite doctors warnings, wanted to prove everyone wrong.

She said: "I was determined to prove them wrong and show that I would dance again but it soon became clear that even walking was a task. I had to learn to walk properly again.

"At a point where I thought there was nothing else that could happen, the pain killers weren’t working. I was on morphine and shouldn’t be in pain anymore but I had to be referred to a Manchester specialist because my body wasn’t taking to normal pain killers.

"Up until February this year it has been okay. I've learnt when I wake up what the pain is going to feel like.

"People have it worse but to me it was really hard. I had to learn how to move properly and problems were getting worse.

Referred to medical specialists both in Bolton and Manchesters, the cause of Naiomi's chronic pain has yet to be established but she now hopes to find further help from specialists in Bath.

However, she faced yet another hurdle when she woke up this February unable to feel her legs.

She adds: "That was scary, very scary. I woke up crying and while I couldn’t feel my legs I did have an awful pain in my back. I couldn’t move neck properly either. An ambulance got called and I was taken to hospital. They have been doing tests and think it’s nerve damage.

"I have been doing well, been off the crutches a month. I still can’t feel my legs on and off, I use the crutches at the minute depending on how my legs are feeling.

"Family have been supportive, but I lost grandad two days before legs went numb in February. It was a really hard time."

Despite the setbacks, Naiomi's condition has not stopped her taking up a new challenge after she was picked out by talent scouts to compete in the Junior Miss Bolton and Bury 2017 and is now a finalist - taking on fundraising challenges including a recent abseil.

She adds: "People who are paraplegic have competed in it before. The charity is for people with a chronic illness and with that it felt right to help give back to those who helped me in the past and I can help others.

"I always suffered from anxiety and low self-confidence but thought it would be a way of overcoming that. It was a huge shock, I would never put myself down as someone who would compete in these types of things.

"A massive reason I want to do well in the competition is because I want to do my grandad proud. I know that if he was here he would be sat on the front row cheering me on, but it's certain he's going to be there in spirit."

To find out more about Naiomi's story and support her bid for the beauty queen crown visit her Facebook page Naiomi Hodgkinson Junior Miss Bolton and Bury Finalist 2017.