"Everything I used to love about my life has been snatched away from me,” Lucy Dunford said
Credit: GoFundMe
NEED TO KNOW
- A “perfectly healthy” woman was suddenly diagnosed with a spinal stroke
- Lucy Dunford, now 21, initially thought she was just experiencing back pain before her condition quickly progressed
- She is now paralyzed from the neck down, with limited mobility in her arms
A young woman in the United Kingdom is on the road to recovery after what she thought was back pain as a teen turned out to be a spinal stroke.
At 19 years old, Lucy Dunford’s “simple backache rapidly escalated into a nightmare,” her sister, Abbie Dunford, said in a GoFundMe established to help Lucy "reclaim her life" after the medical emergency.
The back pain soon escalated into "stabbing pains" in her shoulder blades that eventually became so "unbearable" that she had to be hospitalized, the Yorkshire Post reported Wednesday, April 22.
It wasn’t until Lucy's 20th birthday that she finally received a diagnosis after approximately three weeks in the hospital, learning that what she experienced was a spinal stroke.
Credit: GoFundMe
In the beginning, Lucy was unable to do everyday tasks, such as use the bathroom by herself. She also required a permanent catheter, experienced severe leg spasms and had difficulty sitting up on her own, according to the GoFundMe.
Now at 21, Lucy’s family is helping her rebuild after the spinal stroke left her paralyzed from the neck down.
Spinal strokes are rare and account for just 1.25% of all strokes, which is far less common than strokes that affect the brain, per the Brain and Spine Foundation. The agency adds that spinal strokes cause a disruption in the blood supply to the spinal cord, which can result in tissue damage that blocks nerve impulses.
Though she is paralyzed from the neck down, Lucy still has some mobility in her arms, the Post reported.
"Words can't describe how life has changed after a spinal cord injury. Everything is difficult, there is no such thing as a simple task anymore,” she told the outlet.
"As soon as I wake up there are obstacles such as spasms making [it] very difficult so it takes me a long time just to sit on the end of the bed before having to use all my strength to get into my chair,” Lucy added. "My spasms in my body [are] so hard to live with, not only can I not control my legs and core but they move involuntarily which make [being] in my chair unsafe as they throw me around.”
Abbie created the GoFundMe as a way to financially support her sister’s recovery, which includes specialized treatments such as intensive follow-up physiotherapy and “consistent, professional, and intense physical therapy to manage her spasms.”
Credit: GoFundMe
"Everything I used to love about my life has been snatched away from me,” Lucy told the outlet. “I can't have a day off or to be able to have a chill day in bed because I'm at risk of pressure sores.”
Lucy said that when she does try to go out and enjoy life, she has “the feeling of being an inconvenience to friends or strangers” because she sometimes requires assistance.
She remembered her life before her spinal stroke, telling the outlet she “was in the gym five times per week and really prioritized eating clean and drinking water and getting as many steps in per day.”
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When the "terrifying" situation first happened, doctors ran multiple tests that “all indicated I was perfectly healthy," Lucy told the Post.
Abbie and the Dunford family are continuing to work together to help Lucy get “back to some semblance of the life she deserves.”
At press time, the GoFundMe created for Lucy had raised approximately £2,937 ($3,966.35) of its £3,500 ($4,726.66) goal.
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