A young Twickenham mum has been left unable to move after doctors dismissed a serious neck injury as anxiety. Maisie Moore has suffered debilitating headaches, tinnitus, memory problems and speech loss among other symptoms following a fall in March 2021.
She has struggled to get a diagnosis ever since despite multiple GP and A&E visits. The 25-year-old is now mostly confined to her bed with a neck brace and has not left her house since January. Her partner Rebecca believes the couple have been consistently shrugged off over the last four years.
She said: "She was so ill and she's never normally like that so we knew something was wrong. The hospital did multiple tests and everything came back normal but Maisie was in extreme pain - it was awful.
"We asked different doctors to get some idea of what could be happening but got nothing back. We even paid for an MRI but that didn't help. We were at a dead end. Every time she was brought to A&E, it was disregarded as a mental health problem caused by the pandemic."
The pair were forced to turn to private healthcare, going as far as to enlist the help of a clinic in Barcelona. It was here Maisie learned she had craniocervical instability - a condition that causes the skull to sit loosely on the spine.
Left untreated, it can cause chronic fatigue, paralysis and, in the worst case scenario, internal decapitation. A 'heartbroken' Maisie and Rebecca are now facing a £55k bill in Spain as the NHS is unwilling to perform the specialist surgery needed to fix the weakness.
They have already exhausted multiple bank loans but are having to rely on a public fundraiser to make up the rest of the hefty sum by the end of the year. Family, friends and online strangers have generated just under £2,500 so far.
Rebecca said: "It was utterly devastating when we learned how much the surgery would be. We don't know anyone with that kind of money, and we definitely have no way of paying it. We're trying our best to stay positive but it's extremely hard. This is our last chance.
"We're so, so grateful to the people, even the ones we don't know, who have already helped get Maisie's life back. We can't even describe what it means."
Rebecca told MyLondon the worst part of the ordeal is seeing Maisie become a shell of the 'outgoing' person she once was. The pair would try and do something together everyday, often enjoying a day out, coffee date or walk with dogs Elsie and Bugsy.
Maisie also ran her own pet grooming business but had no choice but to shut it down as her condition slowly deteriorated. Rebecca added: "To go from that to nothing is incredibly difficult. Every day she's frustrated as she can't do the things she loves to do.
"It's really getting to her. To see her right now is horrible. If I'm honest, I have to constantly find reasons for her to keep going. It's been very hard for her to see any type of hope."
There is, however, one factor that keeps Maisie positive - her one-year-old daughter. Although unable to pick her up, Maisie is comforted by cuddles in bed each night. The family are dreaming of a life together, with Maisie hoping to recover enough to take her daughter to a park or farm in the near future.
You can read more about Maisie's story and donate to her fundraiser on GoFundMe.
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