Patient Stories

[Last Updated: 17 September, 2026] Patients naturally ask: Has someone like me done this before? What was their experience and outcome? On this page, you will find a regularly updated collection of genuine patient stories from individuals who travelled to Germany for specialist spine surgery with Dr. Thomas Bierstedt, Dr. Bernd Illerhaus, and Dr. Guido […]

Craig is a 32-year-old Mercedes Benz mechanic based in Melbourne, Australia. He had been suffering with pain from Lumbar (L4/L5 and L5/S1) Degenerative Disc Disease for 10 years.

Nine years after disc replacement in Germany, New Zealand pilot Jeff is still flying, still active, and pain-free. Read his story and our catch-up nine years on.

[18 May, 2026] Will reached out to us in late 2023 regarding his Lumbar Spine. As a 34 year old young man living in Regional Victoria he had been living with L4-L5 and L5-S1 Disc Degeneration with herniations at both levels. His symptoms greatly affected his quality of life, where even sneezing could cause crippling […]

[27 February, 2025] Clay lives an active physical lifestyle with his family on his ranch. He consulted with local spine specialists and was advised to have a Lumbar spine fusion and change his lifestyle. He contacted Spine Connection in early 2022 and we guided him through the online assessment process. We coordinated the large and […]

24 February, 2022 – Last week we were pleasantly surprised with an email from Vince, sharing photos and videos of his time in Germany and recovery at home. Vince was more than 17 months post-op and wanted to share his story on our website. Vince is an early 40’s Texas gentleman from the USA, who […]

7 February, 2022 – Anthony first contacted us in August 2020 after learning two of his friends in Auckland, New Zealand, had travelled to Germany for disc replacement surgery after we had our specialist Dr. Thomas Bierstedt review their cases. He had suffered mild neck discomfort on and off for 15 years and managed it […]

 Aidan is a 49-year-old Computer Scientist from Israel. He contacted Spine Connection in early September 2020, with an interest to be assessed for motion-preserving spine surgery in Germany. Aidan damaged three levels in his Lumbar spine, L3 to S1, in a motorbike accident 20 years ago. At the time he received a Posterior Lumbar Interbody […]

   Poppy contacted Spine Connection in October 2019 looking to return to an active lifestyle. Unfortunately her symptoms had returned after an L5/S1 microdiscectomy one year previously in Australia. Poppy’s case was unique as she was travelling around the world with her Husband and living on their sailing yacht. She was interested in avoiding a […]

  Steve is a healthy and active 64-year-old from Florida in the USA. We caught up with him for an interview just eight days after his OLIF spine surgery in Thailand. Steve contacted Spine Connection in mid-2019 looking for an extra opinion for his painful lower back. He had tried all means of physiotherapy, injections […]