A WOMAN from Bournemouth left paralysed in her right leg when nerves below her spinal chord became damaged has spoken out about her experience.

Donna Tuzul, 52, was completely paralysed in her right leg and had a severely weakened left leg when diagnosed with Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES), when the bundle of nerves just below the spinal cord becomes damaged, in November 2015.

Last year, her condition was complicated by a diagnosis of spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spaces in the spine that puts pressure on the spinal cord and risks further paralysis.

This left Donna paralysed in her left arm and partially in her right arm.

She said: “I was in a very dark place. I’d gone from able-bodied to wheelchair user.

“I didn’t want to go out, didn’t want to see people. And I wasn’t able to do anything, or look after my children, who were eight and 12 at the time. So I felt a major failure.

“Last year, when I became paralysed in my left arm, I realised then I hadn’t really dealt with my first injury. I think I blocked everything out, I pretended that everything was OK.”

Donna contacted the Spinal Injury Association (SIA), who put her in touch with their counsellor, Ian Younghusband, who has tetraplegia himself. For Donna, Ian has proven to be ‘a godsend.’

“I sometimes feel like I’m fighting against life, but Ian gets me,” she added.

“Talking to someone is important and talking to someone who has been through some of the same shocks and challenges you have, and still face, makes a huge difference – the barriers are down from the outset.

“SIA has given me so much, I could never repay them. When I’m happy, my whole family is happy.”

New research reveals people living with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts, compared to the general public.

The SIA who produced the report, estimate that only one third of people living with a SCI are getting access to mental health support, and of those, 68 per cent do not feel that support services available are able to meet their needs.

The report titled ‘It is not just Physical’ raises deep concerns around the quality of mental health support provided to people living with a SCI and shares alarming new research.

The findings, which will be/was presented to Parliament on Wednesday November 17, calls on the NHS, government and other health policy makers to provide better mental health support services for SCI people - and their unpaid carers - as a matter of urgency.

“We are at risk of failing thousands of people in the UK living with a spinal cord injury,” said Nik Hartley OBE, CEO of the Spinal Injuries Association.

“Our new report highlights that psychological damage caused by a SCI is, at best, considered as an afterthought, and at worst, completely ignored by the medical profession.

We need urgent action and for services to be sufficiently specialised to support the thousands of people living with this type of injury before it is too late.”