OHIO — Colin Roberts was a sophomore in high school when he was diagnosed with scoliosis.

After doctors found out his back brace wasn't working, they decided that Roberts would need to get a spinal fusion surgery in order to treat his scoliosis. 

This was not a decision Roberts and his family took lightly, and the recovery time for this procedure was around three months. 

"I wasn’t really able to sit up, stand up or really even walk long distances by myself for the first two weeks,” Roberts said. “I didn’t really realize how much it takes away from you. I couldn’t roll over or anything by myself.” 

He said these difficult times gave him a newfound appreciation for life at a young age. 

“The satisfaction of getting better and better every single day; it’s just like hard to explain," Roberts said. "It’s like going from the cold winter to the spring, the first warm day of the spring.”  

Now at 19, he’s a decathlete at Ashland University, meaning he competes in 10 different events during his track meets. 

"There’s two days, five events each day," he said. "The first day is 100, long jump, shot put, high jump and then the 400. Then the second day is hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500. So it's two long days, but it’s fun.” 

On average, Roberts spends about eight to 10 hours a day focused on his sport. 

“If you would have told me when I was a sophomore that I would be doing this, I would say you are crazy," he said. "I never would have thought I would be where I am today.” 

Dr. William Schrader is the pediatric orthopedic surgeon who performed Robert's surgery at Akron Children's Hospital. 

Schrader said that thanks to modern techniques that have been developed, this surgery is now really stable and allows patients, like Roberts, to live a normal life after recovery. 

“So once you have done the surgery on their spine and then they have healed, which typically takes three to six months after the surgery to heal up," Schrader said. "Most patients can go back to most activities. I always tell the patients that now they are steel reinforced in there and that is probably the strongest part of their body.” 

About 5% of school-aged children will have scoliosis, and Schrader performs about 120 of these surgeries per year. 

The doctor said if you can catch the curve early enough or if the curve doesn’t get big, you can live a pretty normal life without surgery, which is why early detection is key. 

"That was the value of the school screening program that was developed by school nurses. Basically, they wanted to detect these children early when they could be treated rather than later when the curves are too big and are now only surgical candidates," Schrader said. "So the school screening program was very helpful for many years. The problem now is some states still do it, some don’t. It became a product of economics."

Even though school screenings are less common now than they were in the past, Schrader said primary care doctors are trained to notice any issues.

He said a lot of times any curve in the back will be noticed during physicals for school or sports, which is how Roberts found out he had the condition. 

Roberts has high aspirations for the future and plans to continue being a decathlete even once he finishes college.