LIS = Locked In Syndrome - aged 14
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Updated October 2018 ... 18 months on ...
Hello. My name is Miranda Meldrum from Wiltshire, England. I am now 16. I had just turned 13 & was loving my life, when tragically on April 25 last year - 2017 - I suffered from a very rare form of brain haemorrhage as a result of an arterial dissection in a small vessel in the Circle of Willis. The anterior inferior cerebellar artery.
This caused damage to my brain stem but preserved the upper part of my brain - which is "where we are/who we are". I spent the first four months on an intensive care unit, where I survived brain surgery and a temporary cardiac arrest.
I sufferered from LIS = locked in syndrome for the first 4 months; and I was therefore "still in there!".
I am recovering well - I could only use my eyes to communicate for the first 4 months, my body could not move at all & I was on a ventilator. I repaired all major body functions - blood pressure/heart rate/temperature regulation/breathing/coughing/swallowing ... This past 14 months I have been on a neurorehabilitation ward and can now move every part of my body - even my left drop foot (foot drop for 14 months) - and am able to eat & walk (still with assistance).
I have been working extremely hard with my therapies and my parents, friends, relatives & staff are all very proud of my courage & determination.
I have started eating & talking 6 months ago (improving daily) & am now able to even sing a little. Singing was my passion.
My home will need major, expensive adaptations for my safety and ongoing recovery. I will also require ongoing intensive expensive therapies & equipment in order to help continue to improve my functioning & for me return to my school & my friends, including specialist tutors.
A big thanks to anybody that has or eishes wants to help raise funds for these things - or to any scientist interested in my case ...
My mum is Dr Stella Meldrum, a GP (doctor of 25 years now) so would be happy to discuss the medical details with other medics/neuroscientists interested).
I've got no idea why my Circle of Willis misbehaved so badly - but then - neither does anybody else? No pre-existing aneurysm even - so the chance of this appening is 1 in a million. Maybe growth hormone & other hormones surges - yes, I did get all that the past 6 months prior? Likely we will never know.
Regardless. Here I still am - and still fighting on - back to my life!
I have fearured on itv news west 3 times now, with progress updates. Here is a link to a newspaper article written about my story :
wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/15508886.Appealforsickteenager/
Hello. My name is Miranda Meldrum from Wiltshire, England. I am now 16. I had just turned 13 & was loving my life, when tragically on April 25 last year - 2017 - I suffered from a very rare form of brain haemorrhage as a result of an arterial dissection in a small vessel in the Circle of Willis. The anterior inferior cerebellar artery.
This caused damage to my brain stem but preserved the upper part of my brain - which is "where we are/who we are". I spent the first four months on an intensive care unit, where I survived brain surgery and a temporary cardiac arrest.
I sufferered from LIS = locked in syndrome for the first 4 months; and I was therefore "still in there!".
I am recovering well - I could only use my eyes to communicate for the first 4 months, my body could not move at all & I was on a ventilator. I repaired all major body functions - blood pressure/heart rate/temperature regulation/breathing/coughing/swallowing ... This past 14 months I have been on a neurorehabilitation ward and can now move every part of my body - even my left drop foot (foot drop for 14 months) - and am able to eat & walk (still with assistance).
I have been working extremely hard with my therapies and my parents, friends, relatives & staff are all very proud of my courage & determination.
I have started eating & talking 6 months ago (improving daily) & am now able to even sing a little. Singing was my passion.
My home will need major, expensive adaptations for my safety and ongoing recovery. I will also require ongoing intensive expensive therapies & equipment in order to help continue to improve my functioning & for me return to my school & my friends, including specialist tutors.
A big thanks to anybody that has or eishes wants to help raise funds for these things - or to any scientist interested in my case ...
My mum is Dr Stella Meldrum, a GP (doctor of 25 years now) so would be happy to discuss the medical details with other medics/neuroscientists interested).
I've got no idea why my Circle of Willis misbehaved so badly - but then - neither does anybody else? No pre-existing aneurysm even - so the chance of this appening is 1 in a million. Maybe growth hormone & other hormones surges - yes, I did get all that the past 6 months prior? Likely we will never know.
Regardless. Here I still am - and still fighting on - back to my life!
I have fearured on itv news west 3 times now, with progress updates. Here is a link to a newspaper article written about my story :
wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/15508886.Appealforsickteenager/
Organizer
Stella Bardsley
Organizer
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