A woman who went from living a regular life to losing the use of her legs in just 48 hours due to a “one in a million” condition is asking for a helping hand this Christmas after realising that “sometimes you just need to ask for help”.
Trudy Bloomfield, 53, from Scunthorpe, was working full-time and had a thriving career as a mortgage advisor when she woke up one morning in 2013 and “knew something was wrong” when she couldn’t feel her legs. Within 48 hours, her legs were paralysed.
After three trips to the hospital where she lived at the time, she was diagnosed with the rare neurological condition Tranverse Myelitis, which affects around one in a million people and occurs when the miolin sheath which surrounds the spine is attacked by the immune system.
Trudy, who still has limited mobility and uses an electric wheelchair and walker, told Scunthorpe Live: “I woke up and I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t feel my legs. I went to the hospital and they sent me away with painkillers, and did an MRI scan but not in the right place. When I went in again they did it in the right place and found this scarring on my spine. I didn’t know what was going on, I just couldn’t feel my legs.
“Because it’s so rare, doctors didn’t know what it was either. It took three hospital visits to get the correct diagnosis from a neurologist. Transverse Myelitis affected my spine between thoracic level five and thoracic level ten, so consequently my spine is scarred.
“The signal to move your arms or legs starts in your brain and it sends the signal down through your spine to the parts of your body you want to move, but because my spine is scarred, those messages don’t go through. I was completely paralysed in my legs for quite a while.”
Trudy moved back to her hometown of Scunthorpe in May 2022, and is now preparing to move to a more spacious and disabled-friendly bungalow. However, because she has no family in the area, she is appealing for help from “anyone who wants to offer a helping hand” for assistance in completing odd jobs and helping her relocate.
She continued: “I need a lot of help to move and jobs to be done in the bungalow. Unfortunately I don’t have the finances to do this as I’m on disability benefits. I had a fantastic career as a mortgage advisor but I can’t do that anymore unfortunately.
“I don’t really have any family left now so there’s no one to help me, really. To be honest, I lost my pride a long time ago and learnt that sometimes you need to ask for help. I’m hoping because it’s coming up to Christmas, people will be kind enough to help.
“I’m looking for anyone who wants to offer a helping hand. The bungalow I’m moving into hasn’t been decorated in a long time and I need help with things like putting curtain rails up, plumbing and fitting in appliances, because I can’t do that. I could do with another bed, too, because it’s a two-bedroom bungalow, and I’m looking for someone with a van or a removals company to help me move my furniture from one property to another.
“[Asking for help] has taken me a lot of courage,” Trudy said.
“If I wasn’t disabled, this wouldn’t be something I would do. But I don’t really feel like I have a choice. If you don’t ask, you don’t get, and becoming disabled in the space of 48 hours just gave me a completely different mindset.
“I realised that sometimes, you just have to reach out for help. I’m asking for a Christmas miracle.”
If you can help Trudy in any way, please email lauren.davidson@reachplc.com.
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
