A rare spine-surgery has been performed by a Chennai-based private hospital on two patients from Canada, enabling them to walk again.

The operations conducted last week on Jeff Clarke, 33, and Rozina Hasan Ali, 68, were 'unusual and difficult' to perform as per Canadian doctors, Dr Sajan K Hegde of Apollo Hospital, said on Friday.

Dr Hegde headed the team of surgeons who performed the operations.

He said Clarke had a severe crippling pain in the back due to a deformed spine and could hardly walk since 2002. His MRIs showed problems with his lumbar spine.

Rozina developed scoliosis (a condition in which the spine bends) and a surgery was performed in Canada without any positive result.

In Apollo, her spine was straightened up with the help of implants, enabling her to walk again.

Clarke said his operation cost was only $15,000, while any spine-surgery in Canada would cost about $50,000-100,000.

Moreover, many senior neurosurgeons in Canada could not help me, he said.

The surgery charges for Rozina also were much lesser compared to those in the West, Dr Hegde said.

"Even the richest people in Canada cannot receive the quality medical treatment as we got here. I was amazed by the quality of doctors and the advanced technology," said Rozina.

"People in the West are still ignorant about the quality medical care in India and they thought I was crazy when I planned to come to India for medical treatment," Clarke said.

"The world will come to know about the quality medical treatment in your country soon," Rozina, who had learnt about the treatment at Appollo through the internet, added.