Woman struck down with terrifying brain condition means she can't speak and can barely move

Lisa Wilcox, 31, fought off pneumonia, and life threatening meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, after falling ill in January and spending three weeks in intensive care at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Transferred to the high dependency unit, after a few days she was moved to a general ward and seemed on the mend.

But within a day she was back in intensive care and diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (Adem), a rare inflammatory brain and spinal cord condition.

Adem, which attacks the protective layer covering nerve fibres, usually affects children. One study puts prevalence at just eight cases per one million population.

So rare is it, doctors at the Royal Gwent asked for help from a neurological consultant at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, who in turn required advice on treatment from experts in the Netherlands.

Miss Wilcox’s family has been told she faces a road to recovery that could last two years, most of which is likely to be spent in rehabilitation at Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff – but she remains too ill to be transferred, and a move is unlikely for three or four months.

Her parents Anthony and Ceri Wilcox, also of Cwmbran, want to say “a massive thank you” to the doctors and nurses who are continuing to care for their daughter.

They are at her bedside several hours a day, but do not drive, and the draining daily expense of maintaining their vigil will deepen when their daughter is transferred to Rookwood.

Now, Miss Wilcox’s cousin Natasha Maddison-Wilcox and Lucy Harrison, who is married to another of Miss Wilcox’s cousins, have started a fundraising drive to help with future expenses.

“Lisa’s mum and dad are in pieces, and they have her son Jack, who is nine, to look after and they both work, so there are lots of things to worry about,” said Ms Maddison-Wilcox, who also lives in Cwmbran.

“It’s hard for them to get to and from the Royal Gwent every day and it will be even more difficult when Lisa is transferred to Rookwood, so we wanted to do something to help them.”

A fundraising page set up at http://dt.gofund.me/oawc30 has raised £1,860 in two days, and a fun day is being planned for the Castell-y-Bwch pub, near Henllys, Cwmbran, on Saturday June 13.

“We set a £1,000 target on the page and that was passed in less than 24 hours,” said Ms Harrison.

“The response has been incredible, and we hope it helps Lisa’s mum and dad over what will be a long time at Rookwood.”

Ms Maddison-Wilcox said Ms Wilcox, who works at the Castell-y-Bwch, is a happy, fun-loving woman – “you never saw her angry or upset” – and described the awful speed with which a seemingly routine cough and bad chest developed into an illness that almost took her life.

“She’d had a nasty cough but kept going, kept working because she wanted to pay for Jack’s birthday party,” she said.

“She seemed a bit confused and forgetful at work but the next morning (January 15) she took Jack to school. Back at home she felt light-headed and collapsed, and went to bed that afternoon because she thought she had a virus that was going round.

“Her mum and dad tried to wake her to pick Jack up, and she was stirring, but they couldn’t rouse her properly.”

At 7pm they called an ambulance on the advice of her GP and by 10pm Miss Wilcox was in an induced coma at the Royal Gwent, where pneumonia, meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia were diagnosed.

“They thought she was going to die but she pulled through.

“Then she developed Adem. She was in intensive care for another three weeks and she’s in high dependency now, but still very ill,” said Ms Maddison-Wilcox.

“She could only communicate using her eyes, moving them up and down, but she’s begun moving her neck a bit now.

“It’s something, but we now there’s a very long way to go, and things will be very hard for her parents and for Jack, who is very worried and wants his mum back.”

It is not known how long Miss Wilcox’s recovery will take, and what its extent will be.