A 21-year-old store manager from Wales has been left paralysed after failing to realise pains in her neck were due to a serious neurological condition.

Speaking to The Metro Helen Fincham said: “I woke up and it was like any other day, I went downstairs and had something to eat with my parents.” “But as I bent down to pick up the washing I realised my neck was a bit sore but just presumed I’d slept funny and didn’t think anything of it.” When Helen got back into bed she was short of breath and her arm became numb. As the situation escalated, Helen believed she was having a heart attack and soon lost the feeling in her legs too. When paramedics arrived they asked Helen to stand but her legs collapsed and she has been paralysed from the neck down ever since. “When I realised I could no longer feel my legs I was horrified,” she says. “It was like I had become paralysed overnight, my whole life had been turned upside down in a matter of hours.” Helen was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis. Transverse Myelitis is a neurological disorder caused by inflammation the spinal cord. “The condition is so rare that I still have so many unanswered questions like why and how but no-one can answer them, I just don’t know what to think,” continues Helen. “In the beginning I thought maybe I’d been bitten on holiday or I’d contracted some kind of virus but I was never poorly and there were no signs of anything else.” “It’s just a complete mystery and I don’t know if it will ever be solved.” Helen’s family have started a GoFundMe Page to help with recovery. “As Helen’s mum, I would like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes. Never in a million years did I ever think we would wake up to something like this one day. Trying to understand, cope and realise what is happening is surreal. Helen (as with my other two children) has always been hardworking, healthy, and always positive, but this has really knocked us all for 6, and at the moment still trying to understand and believe this is happening,” writes Helen’s mother. Helen is currently undergoing physio every day.