A Dundee woman has spoken of the terrifying experience of going through major surgery at the age of 25 — after losing all the feeling in her left leg.
Siobhan Diamond, who runs a photography business in the city centre, collapsed in December 2015 and woke up feeling paralysed in her leg.
She was rushed to Ninewells Hospital where doctors thought she could be wheelchair-bound because of massive erosion in her spine.
But, thankfully, an emergency operation worked and Siobhan, from Broughty Ferry, overcame the odds to be back on her feet again.
Nearly 12 months on, Siobhan still faces a battle to keep her mobility but now she wants to urge others not to suffer in silence when in pain, like she initially did.
The snapper, now 26, who set up Siobhan Diamond Photography in early 2013, said: “One day I was sitting in a coffee shop and, when we went to leave, I just couldn’t stand up.
“The pain was unbelievable. I basically had to be dragged home.
“I got better but another day my boyfriend went to Glasgow and just 45 minutes later I collapsed in agonising pain. I couldn’t reach my phone or anything.
“I was screaming so much that my neighbours could have thought I was being murdered.
“I had to call my dad and he struggled to get in because I couldn’t stand up to buzz him in.
“For a week-and-a-half I didn’t go anywhere. I was just too scared to be moved — even if it was just to go in the back of an ambulance — so I never called for them.
“The pain went away but over the course of the next two years it came back and doctors gave me pain killers.”
Siobhan says she asked her GP several times for an MRI scan because, despite visiting a chiropractor, the issues didn’t subside.
Her doctor made arrangements for the scan last year but before the results could even be revealed Siobhan’s life was turned upside-down.
Siobhan said: “On the Thursday I got the MRI. Then, on the Sunday, I collapsed and when I woke up I couldn’t feel my leg.
“The ambulance took me away and I’d given up hope. I was convinced I was going to end up in a wheelchair.
“My leg was paralysed. It was the most terrifying experience. I thought ‘this is it, this isn’t coming back’.
“They looked at the MRI and it showed there was a leakage of fluids and basically a massive erosion of my spine.
“They didn’t think I would regain feeling in my left leg again and there would have been a possibility that I wouldn’t have full use of it again, potentially not able to walk or be fully mobile again.”
Amazingly, Siobhan recovered to a point where she could even start light jogging again.
She still has partial numbness and, despite suffering a relapse last week, remains positive and wants to encourage others to learn from her experience.
She said: “I do think there’s a chance that one day my spine is just going to be too battered, but I have to be positive.
“My message is, don’t persevere. You shouldn’t accept ‘this is what my life is’. It shouldn’t just be pain.
“You don’t have to be an old person to suffer from severe pain and there is support out there.
“Things could still get worse for me and, if they do, then so be it.
“The main thing I care about is being able to take photographs.
“I love taking photos, my studio is beautiful and my clients are beautiful.
“I am a very happy person — I just wanted to tell people this is why I’m sometimes not myself.”