A TEACHER at a Rugby primary school with a condition nicknamed ‘suicide disease’ is desperate to get her life back, having spent most of the past 18 months in hospital.
Rugby Free Primary School teacher Amy Pohl, 25, developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in December 2017, as a result of a failed cannula inserted in her left hand to treat a bad cough.
Since then she has lost the use of her left arm, has developed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) causing her to lose the use of her legs, and has spent the last five months stuck in a neurology ward at University Hospital Coventry (UHC).
CRPS causes agonising pain, recognised to be more severe than childbirth, the amputation of a digit or the pain associated with cancer. It is known as ‘suicide disease’ because the pain is so severe that it drives many sufferers to take their own lives.
And the FND means Amy can no longer sit up in bed, and eating has become so painful she has to be fed through a tube.
She also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – caused by flashbacks to when she had the failed cannula insertion.
An in-patient at UHC since last October, she is likely to stay there until a specialist facility becomes available on the NHS – which could take another two years.
But with Amy eager to get back to the job she loves, her family is trying to raise £100,000 so she can get the treatment she needs.
Dad David said: “It is abundantly clear she is unlikely to get better with her current treatment regime within the NHS. The facility does not have the required resources or expertise in meeting Amy’s needs for recovery.
“We are therefore looking at private treatment options, like STEPS rehabilitation in Sheffield, for example. But, at approximately £5,000 per week, it certainly isn’t cheap!
“We implore you to support our Help Our Amy to Walk Again campaign by donating anything you can and sharing the campaign link on your social media accounts.
“Let’s get Miss Amy Pohl better for the new school year in September 2019.”
The family have so far raised over £10,000 of the £100,000 target.
Visit www.helpamy.co.uk for more information and to donate.
