Mum’s thanks to daughter
A YOUNG mum has thanked her baby daughter for helping her to learn to walk again – after being struck down by a rare brain illness, leaving her in an induced coma for four weeks.
A YOUNG mum has thanked her baby daughter for helping her to learn to walk again – after being struck down by a rare brain illness.
Aiysha Hancock, 22, was healthy when daughter Aurora was born, only to be struck down with a rare condition as she reached seven months.
She was left in an induced coma for four weeks – and when she came round she found herself paralysed and unable to walk.
But Aiysha was able to recover to take baby steps, at the same time as toddler Aurora was learning to walk.
Aiysha, of Porthcawl, said: “I have had to learn along with Aurora – if it wasn’t for her I would have given up.
“She has been my inspiration and my motivation. We hold each other’s hands and walk together or I push her in the pram.
“I still can’t walk very far but I can pick her up for a short period of time and it’s great to do it together.
“She has learned that she can’t run off and not push me too far because I won’t be able to keep up with her.
“She is very understanding an a good listener and she knows to stay by my side and hold my hand.”
Aiysha was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome – a rare and serious condition that affects the hands, feet and limbs.
It was the second time in her life that the former Porthcawl Comprehensive School pupil had been struck down by the syndrome.
She has now undergone intensive physiotherapy to regain the use of muscles in her face and body.
She is unable to smile properly but is due to have therapy on her face later this year to help stimulate the muscles.
Aurora, now two and a half, loves cuddling her mum as the pair learn together.
Aiysha said: “I still struggle every day but I’m a lot stronger than I was and Aurora is helping me every step of the way.”
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is thought to be caused by a problem with the immune system.
It mistakenly attacks the healthy nervous system and can damage the heart and lungs beyond repair.
It was a devastating hammer blow for Aiysha when she was first hit with the condition, while she was of nursery school age.
When the syndrome took hold for a second time in 2018, Aiysha was put in an induced coma at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.
After coming round she was unable to talk, walk breathe or even move her eyelids.
In an interview with the Glamorgan Gazette two years ago, just months after coming round from her coma, Aiysha said: “When I first had it they didn’t think they could do anything to help me.
“They didn’t really know much about the illness and they didn’t know what the right medication was.
“It was more serious when I was three as my body was weaker and would take longer to fight it off.”
Due to weakness in her face, Aiysha wasn’t able to smile properly until she was 17.
“I look back at pictures of myself growing up where I tried to smile but it just wasn’t there,” she said.
“It was so annoying. When someone smiles at you and you can’t smile back it just looks rude.
“But I couldn’t keep telling people about my condition as I’d just be repeating myself all the time.”