Amanda Campbell, 37, who worked in the fashion industry and later became a sport kinesiologist and motivational speaker, from Melbourne, went from a 50/50 chance she’d ever walk again to running in six weeks.
“I was told said there’s no guarantee you’ll get movement again. You haven’t responded to treatment, it’s a waiting game now. You might never walk again, you might never wash or feed yourself again,” says Campbell, who was 24 when she was diagnosed with MS.
“The first words that came out of my mouth were, ‘can I have a family’. I didn’t even realise it was important to me. Then I excused myself and had a big, big cry,”
“It’s amazing how everything can change in one moment.”
“I felt like my life was over, like I wasn’t going to be able to achieve my dreams or even just normal things like being able to put on a pair of heals and go out to dinner.”
“So, I was out to enjoy life and experience as much as I could. I didn’t know what my future held. I wasn’t looking after my body as a result.”
Everything finally came crashing down after a severe episode lasting 10 days left her completely paralysed. “My face literally dropped, my arm twisted – it looked like I’d had a stroke. Washing and feeding myself became the most difficult part of my day. Then my muscles started to slowly twist. It was painful. I was scared.”
“Being alone, when everything becomes dark is when you find your inner strength, your light and what you’re really capable of. It’s when I realised my inner strength.”
Together with a new form of treatment, a team of specialists, the support of her family, in particular her twin sister, and friends – as well as a bucket-load of personal determination, she beat all the odds.
“I was a woman on a mission. I was first in at the physio and last to leave.”
To watch Amanda’s story tune into Recover/Me episode 1 released this week, through social media at www.facebook.com/RecoverMeShow
RecoverMe is a new five-part series, viewers are taken on an inspiring, and at times devastating, journey through the personal road to recovering with the help and support of first responders, healthcare professionals, the community, family and even spirituality.
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