In May 2023 I had one of the scariest experiences of my life. I woke up with complete paralysis down the left side of my face. I had no idea if I would ever get better. I couldn’t close my eye and had to tape it shut at night. My speech was slurred, and I had to drink through a straw. Eating was difficult and I could only properly chew on one side of my mouth. The worst thing of all was that when my 16-week-old baby smiled at me, I couldn’t smile back.

I’d recently returned from work after a short maternity leave. I was quite run down after a whirl wind month that was busy with work (the Lancashire Science Festival), friends, and family. I should have slowed down when I realised that I was developing shingles, but I didn’t. I thought I could power through.

Unfortunately, 5 days into the onset of my symptoms, I felt so ill I had to go home from work. Later that evening my face seemed to be drooping. I shrugged and thought I could sleep it off.

The next morning when I woke up, I couldn’t move the left side of my face. At all.

I had developed Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The shingles had caused my facial nerve to swell up and get crushed in a small canal in my skull.

I went to the hospital and what followed was 10 terrifying days. I won’t go into the forensic details here, but the care I received throughout was not good. I was given the wrong dosage of medications and had no advice on how to approach recovery. I saw a doctor in the urgent care unit and after that, didn’t see a GP or ENT doctor for over a month. I discovered pretty quickly (via Dr Google) that my prognosis (having not received anti-virals within 72hours) was quite poor and had a 50% chance of being paralysed forever.

For those 10 days I felt completely lost. I felt totally abandoned and terrified that I would never be able to smile or blink again.

On day 10, I released that I could move the corner of my mouth by about 1mm. I was elated. I never knew I could be so excited by such a tiny movement. A few days earlier, I’d come across some information from Facial Palsy UK about Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, which had been really helpful. I went back to it and there was a telephone number – I immediately dialled it and left a voice mail message explaining my situation and asking what I should do. Within a couple of hours Vanessa from Facial Palsy called me back with lots of advice – most importantly – rest and do not attempt exercises. She followed up with lots of advice and guidance via email.

After nearly two weeks of feeling terrified, I suddenly felt like I had support and I wasn’t alone. Over the next 6 weeks, I slowly saw improvements and Vanessa provided support via email whenever I needed it. This ranged from advice on recovery, to advice on speaking with doctors and advocating for treatment.

I was incredibly lucky. Within a couple of months, I had regained 90% of my facial movement. One year on, the asymmetry is barely noticeable.

For those few weeks Facial Palsy UK was a lifeline. I would have been lost without them. They are a tiny charity and provide such a vital service for people who go through this. Not just people who have Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, but all forms of facial palsy. It’s not just help during the onset of facial palsy, they support people who have the condition longer term and do amazing work to support the community.

I have decided I want to try and give something back to Facial Palsy UK, to say thank you for the amazing work they do and so other people who find themselves in that situation can access the same support that was so vital for me. I am going to attempt to do a half marathon. The furthest I have ever run previously is 10K, so this is going to be a huge challenge! I would be hugely grateful for any sponsorship to raise money for this amazing charity and help others with facial palsy.