Cause Details

Our Mission : Food, Education, Medicine

Paula's Ladder To Life: Urgent Spinal Surgery

Treatment

Start Date : 19th October 2022

End Date : 31st December 2024

Our brave Paula, just 36 years old, is at the stage where her symptoms are so disabling that she needs full-time care. Unfortunately, only specialised spinal surgery in the UK (unavailable in South Africa) can help her. We have six weeks to raise £150 000 (R3 million!). We urgently need your help.

This will come as a shock to many friends. You may have only heard Paula is sick and can’t work/ go out anymore or that she has ME/ CFS (A post-viral illness). This diagnosis never fully explained some of her symptoms and experiences, but recent renewed medical investigations have led to new answers that explain so much more!

A change like no other

If you know Paula, you’ll know she is outgoing, intelligent, dedicated and caring. Before her condition prevented her from leaving the house, she was a fully active participant in all life had to offer.

While she is still the same person inside, on the outside, her life is unrecognisable from what it once was.

Paula has spent the last 9 years living with constant pain and debilitating neurological symptoms that have forced her to stop working, walking, dancing, driving, socialising and doing basic daily activities we all take for granted. For the last 2 years, she’s been housebound and increasingly bedbound. She needs help showering and dressing. She can barely lift a glass of water to her lips.

At just 36 years old, she requires full-time care.

Paula’s ongoing research led to her discovery that in a small subset of M.E/ CFS patients, their most debilitating symptoms are due to complications from connective tissue laxity between the head and neck – a rare kind of craniocervical instability! (The dynamic/ hypermobile type). As a result, their skulls wobbled slightly on their top neck vertebrae, causing stress and stretch injury to the brainstem when moving.

There are only 7 Neurosurgeons worldwide experienced with the surgical technique needed to address this rare dynamic/ hypermobile type of craniocervical instability as it presents in patients with connective tissue disorders/ hypermobility at the craniocervical junction.

Please help us access this chance for life and a future for Paula.

We can't do this alone and will appreciate anything you can give! Even small donations will be significant to us!

We also have to reach as many people as possible - please help us by

sharing with others who can donate or run a fundraising event. Please do share with any sports groups or religious communities you may be part of, and share on your social channels/ email/ WhatsApp friends and family, colleagues etc.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Paula’s family - Pam (mom), Alan (dad) & Kirsty (sister) and close friends

P.S If you want to help but aren’t sure how?

Look at the Resources at this link below:

• Donation and Fundraising ideas

• Campaign videos, a letter from my mother’s perspective aimed at parents

• shorthand WhatsApp and Facebook messages for sharing