Mom thought she had the flu. Eventually she found out the truth and was left unable to walk for 2 years

HE NEEDS TO KNOW

• Vicki Purdey, from Dorset, England, was diagnosed with a life-changing illness after her flu-like symptoms worsened

• “After a few days, I felt worse and luckily my mum was there to call the ambulance,” she recalled.

• Purdey, 37, is now confined to a wheelchair and also suffers from brain fog and frequent eye spasms.

A mother is trying to regain her mobility after an illness that started with flu-like symptoms left her unable to walk.

Vicki Purdey, a mother of two from Dorset, England, was “fit and well” before developing symptoms – including fever, severe headaches, muscle pain and sensitivity to light – in March 2024. In an interview with news agency SWNS, Purdey, 37, recalled thinking she had just had a “seasonal illness” before she was diagnosed.

It wasn’t until her mother, Julie, 75, learned she had started vomiting and slurring her words that she dialed Britain’s emergency number 999.

“I was fit and well and in the prime of my life,” Purdey told SWNS. “So when I started feeling sick, I thought it was just the flu.”

She continued: “I remember waking up with a headache and some aches and I didn’t think much of it. I honestly thought it was just the flu and the symptoms would subside. But after a few days, I felt worse and luckily my mum was there to call an ambulance.”

Purdey was admitted to Poole Hospital on April 1 that year after she was unable to touch her chin to her chest when asked by doctors. A series of tests and a lumbar puncture then confirmed that he had viral meningitis.

“At the hospital, I was pumped with antibiotics because my body was kind of shutting down,” Purdey recalled, according to SWNS. “But when I heard meningitis, the words hit me like a train.”

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While receiving treatment in the hospital, Purdey said her body showed “some signs” that it was not fully recovering.

“I remember going to the bathroom and just losing coordination to go,” she said. “It was the strangest thing and the doctors assumed it was because I am [kept] in bed for ages.”

“On top of that, I also developed short-term memory loss and there was a time when I couldn’t recognize my neighbor,” Purdey added.

The mother was discharged after a week, but readmitted on April 15 with recurrent meningitis. She learned that the disease had so affected the neurological pathways of her brain that she “lost the most use” of her legs.

Further tests led to her being diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder (FND). The condition, triggered by meningitis, causes the brain to have trouble sending and receiving signals, leading to a wide range of problems such as loss of sensation and touch in the body.

Purdey believes she may have contracted the disease a week before she was diagnosed.

“My boy was unwell and I was sitting in A&E,” she said of her 6-year-old son, Freddie. “It seemed like the only place I would have been exposed and my symptoms started soon after.”

Purdey’s second hospital stay lasted four days. She was told her mobility would probably take a few weeks to return. However, it has been two years since she depended on a wheelchair to get around.

“I basically lost feeling from the waist down and my independence was severely affected,” Purdey said, per SWNS, adding that it was “incredibly isolating.”

“I never thought it would be meningitis,” Purdey added. “Many people think it’s a disease that only affects babies and young people, but that’s not the case.

“He had me almost at death’s door and now there are times when I can’t be the mother or the wife that I want to be,” she continued. “FND has affected my coordination and walking ability and needs more awareness and resources.”

Purdey regularly attends physiotherapy and exercises to improve his mobility. Her hip sockets are “back to front,” rotating her upper half 180 degrees, according to SWNS. Because of her FND diagnosis, she also suffers from brain fog and around 20 eye spasms a day.

“I still have little feeling in my legs and rely on my wheelchair,” Purdey said. “I suffer from occasional seizures and it means I have to relearn how to walk in a new way each time. It’s a struggle but I’m learning more about myself and the support from friends and family has been great.”

The mother said resources for those suffering from FND are “limited”, despite the growing number of people suffering from the condition.

“I’ve had a real crappy last few years and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Purdey told SWNS. “Even though I’m trying hard to recover. I don’t think I ever will, but I hope my story can help others become more aware of the symptoms of meningitis and FND.”

“You are not alone,” she concluded.

Read the original article on People