A scientist who suffered a lifetime of back pain has cured herself by bell-ringing.
Natalie Bleackley was diagnosed with the back condition idiopathic scoliosis as a child and underwent surgery for her curved spine.
But, by the time she reached her 30s, she experienced constant pain in the lower spine.
Severe back stiffness made her uneasy about going on walking holidays, rock climbing and canoeing, all activities she had enjoyed before.
Natalie Bleackley was diagnosed with the back condition idiopathic scoliosis as a child and underwent surgery for her curved spine
The mother of two makes sure she goes to St Mary and St Nicholas in Leatherhead, Surrey, twice a week
Then in 2014 her daughter Jemima saw an advert for a 'taster day' at their local church.
Mrs Bleackley went along and at first the 49-year-old did not feel any improvement. But a few months later her condition had miraculously improved.
'I was walking down the street one day and I realised that the pain had completely vanished,' she said.
'I think the regular action of pulling down on the bell ropes and then being pulled up by them has stretched out my back and somehow fixed whatever it was that was causing me the pain for all those years.'
The mother of two makes sure she goes to St Mary and St Nicholas in Leatherhead, Surrey, twice a week.
She added: 'It never occurred to me before I decided to give bell-ringing a go that this might have a benefit for my back. I just saw it as a social activity.
She never thought that bell ringing would alleviate her back pain but just saw it as a social activity (pictured
