A 25-year-old woman who has been in ‘extreme pain’ since a skiing accident could end up paralyzed if not treated quickly because her brain is gently sliding down her spine.
“My health continues to decline, but I still can’t raise enough money to get the treatment I need. […] Englishwoman Emily Balfour, 25, said in an interview with The Independent. “My life has stalled and stagnated, I have become pretty much bedridden.”
At the age of 14, the young woman from London is said to have had a skiing accident that would have taken her to hospital. At that time, she was reported to have discovered that she had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a rare condition that affects joints by attacking the tissues between organs.
In the case of the young Englishwoman, this may translate into a significant instability in the interval between her skull and spine. And the British media reported that this would be added to the Chiari malformation, that is, his cerebellum would not settle in the appropriate place, but instead put pressure on the spinal cord.
And according to what his doctors would have told him, his brain was no longer in his skull.
“And this problem is not only related to me, as there are many people with this disease who find it difficult to obtain funds for treatment abroad. “Money is the obstacle that prevents us from living our lives,” the Londoner continued.
The young woman has launched a crowdfunding campaign to try to get £200,000, the equivalent of more than $335,000, for a treatment that aims to inject stem cells directly into her spine.
Like many people in her condition, she had recently lost the use of her left arm, which was reportedly paralyzed and swollen, before regaining some mobility.
“I’ve seen people with these conditions completely lose the use of their arms, and that obviously worries me because I live on my own. […] I just want to complete my university degree and live a normal life, without falling into this hell,” she concluded, to the English media.
