Help Support Zoe to Heal After Spinal Cord Injury
On the 29th February 2020, Zoe lost all the feeling below her waist, after suffering with an extremely painful bad back for just over a week. It was the day of her daughters first birthday party.
Once rushed to hospital an MRI scan exposed a herniated disc at L4/L5 that was crushing her spinal cord, specifically the Cauda Equina bundle of nerves. She needed emergency surgery to prevent her from being permanently paralysed.
The surgery stopped her from becoming wheel chair bound but sadly damage was still done resulting in her mobility, bladder, bowels and sensation being effected long term.
Zoe was released from hospital and the country went in to lockdown as a result of the pandemic, isolating her, her husband and 1 year old daughter from any family or ongoing medical or support. She was not able to access inpatient rehabilitation due to COVID 19 forcing hospitals reprioritise their resources.
Her inpatient rehabilitation was repeatedly rescheduled as lockdown after lockdown, the fall out of the pandemic took hold. 13 months later she is still yet to receive this care.
Spinal cord injury recovery heavily relies on retraining your muscles, spinal cord, and brain to work in sync again through consistent repetition, but she has not received any physio, losing out on a whole year of rehabilitation.
Her legs are weak and she is now dependent on her crutches. As she lives 3rd floor flat without any lift access she is pretty much housebound.
Zoe was an active 36 year old busy working Mum. She now suffers with chronic pain, reduced and altered sensation in areas below the waist, neurogenic bladder and bowel issues, pelvic pain, postural distortions, spasticity and despite her resilience and positivity this injury has had a significant psychological impact on Zoe and her small family.
As Zoe is self employed she sadly lost all of her income as a result of her injury and ongoing untreated issues. Her husband DJ Kane the Drum and Bass DJ has had to fall in to the role of a primary carer for Zoe and their daughter while also dealing with the effects the pandemic has had on his industry. These combined circumstances have prevented access to private treatment for Zoe.
Zoe is a hard working Project Manager and loving mum. Please help us to help Zoe heal and transition back in to everyday life.
You can listen to Zoe speaking about her inury in this podcast episode here: https://link.chtbl.com/caudaequinasyndromeinapandemic
Access to treatments and support will be life changing for Zoe and her family. Allowing her to experience the world once again, in the way she envisioned. With love, passion, optimism and joy. We thank you for taking the time to hear her story and we thank you for your kindness, consideration and generosity.
