Woman Left Paralyzed Soon after Giving Birth Shares She Learnt to Walk with Her Daughter

Only in her early twenties, tragedy struck when Aiysha Hancock became paralyzed acutely. The incident left her learning to walk alongside her baby daughter.

Aiysha birthed her first child, Aurora, in perfect health. There was nothing to foretell the terrible incident, and the young mother would raise her daughter until she was about seven months old. The unthinkable happened when Hancock suddenly became paralyzed, one of the complications of Guillain Barre Syndrome {GBS}.

Although of rare prevalence, Guillain-Barré syndrome is still considered a severe condition that should be treated with urgency as it progresses quite fast. It happens when a person's immune system starts to attack its nervous system. It mainly affects the upper and lower extremities.

One of the critical telltale signs of the disease is that there is a prickling sensation felt in the extremities. Hancock explained that she started feeling this sometime in the middle of the night and that it never ceased even after she made efforts to stretch her legs.

The disease quickly progressed into weakness with the young mother of one explaining that it became challenging for her to get out of bed.

Hancock:

“Even heaving myself up and getting to the end of the bed was a huge effort. My body felt like it weighed a ton. Something clearly wasn't right.”

It was then that she became fearful that her childhood disease had returned. Hancock revealed to sources that this wouldn't be the first time she's experiencing GBS. When she was just three years old, she became paralyzed and had needed a ventilator to breathe.

She said:

“I spent six months of my childhood in hospital and had to learn how to walk, talk and smile all over again. I was even put on a ventilator because I couldn't breathe unaided.”

It was why her call to her parents elicited great urgency as they rushed to the emergency room with her mum staying back to watch over little Aurora.

Hancock was in so much agony that the doctors had to put her in an induced coma.

Hancock:

“Doctors were forced to put me in an induced coma to give me the best chance at survival. Once again, I was put on a ventilator to help me breathe, and they pumped me full of medication to try to halt the damage on my heart and lungs.”

She remained unconscious for over a month and woke to find her daughter looked even more grown than she remembered. The sight of her little girl gave her the hope she needed to get back on her feet, and after staying in the hospital for a little over two months, Hancock is now well on her way to achieving a full recovery.

Hancock:

“With daily physiotherapy, I could eventually move my arms and legs. In a strange twist of fate, Aurora and I started learning to walk and talk at the same time - and soon I was struggling to keep up with her.”

The young mother explained that although it's a tasking process, she's not going to let it discourage her because she knows things could have gotten a lot worse. Hancock now plans to raise awareness for and create a support group for people struck with GBS.

The cause of GBS remains unknown, but it has been found to follow a viral infection frequently. According to NHS, Campylobacter infections have been mainly known to set off GBS. It is incurable, and medical treatment only strives to return the nervous system to its normal function.