free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n![\"Vicki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2ca175c2b4f463a280e57b1cd94ddfc9.jpeg\"\/)
Vicki Purdey with her husband, Ian <\/p>\n
swns<\/p>\n
While receiving hospital treatment, Purdey said her body showed a \u201cfew signs\u201d that she wasn\u2019t fully recovering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember walking to the loo and I just lost the coordination to walk,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was the strangest thing and doctors assumed it was because I was [kept] in bed for ages.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of this, I also developed short-term memory loss and there was a time when I couldn\u2019t recognize my neighbor,\u201d Purdey added.<\/p>\n
![\"Vicki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/f1901f1b07cffa8e0d1a80562d2b0fd5.jpeg\"\/)
Vicki Purdey, before her diagnosis <\/p>\n
swns<\/p>\n
The mother was discharged after a week but readmitted on April 15 with recurrent meningitis. She found out the illness had affected the neurological pathways of her brain so much that she \u201clost most use\u201d of her legs.<\/p>\n
Further testing led to her being diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder (FND). The condition, triggered by meningitis, causes the brain to have trouble sending and receiving signals, resulting in a wide range of issues, such as loss of sensation and touch in the body.<\/p>\n
Purdey believes she may have contracted the illness a week before she was diagnosed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy boy was feeling unwell and I was sitting in A&E,\u201d she said of her 6-year-old son, Freddie. \u201cIt seemed like the only place where I would have been exposed and my symptoms soon started later.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Vicki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/395a3c47576781fca2ba9108d72b989b.jpeg\"\/)
Vicki Purder with her child <\/p>\n
swns<\/p>\n
Purdey\u2019s second hospital admission lasted four days. She was told that her mobility would likely take a few weeks to return. However, two years have since passed with her reliant on a wheelchair to get around.<\/p>\n
\u201cI essentially lost sensation from the waist down and my independence took a severe hit,\u201d said Purdey, per SWNS, adding that it\u2019s been \u201cincredibly isolating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever did I think it would be meningitis,\u201d Purdey added. \u201cMany people think it\u2019s an illness that only affects babies and young persons \u2014 but that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had me nearly at death’s door and there are times now where I can\u2019t be the mom or wife I want to be,\u201d she continued. \u201cFND has impacted my ability to coordinate and walk and it needs more awareness and resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Vicki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/e0b9dcf0fa1691c636c179ba4531a3f4.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Purdey regularly attends physiotherapy and exercises to boost her mobility. Her hip sockets are \u201cback to front,\u201d rotating her top half 180 degrees, according to SWNS. Due to the FND diagnosis, she also suffers from brain fog and around 20 eye spasms a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have little sensation in my legs and rely on my wheelchair,\u201d said Purdey. \u201cI suffer with flare-ups occasionally and it means I need to re-learn how to walk in a new way each time. It\u2019s a battle, but I am learning more about myself and the support from friends and family has been great.”<\/p>\n
The mother said resources for FND sufferers are \u201climited\u201d despite the rising number of people who have the condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a real rubbish past couple of years and I wouldn\u2019t wish it on anyone,\u201d Purdey told SWNS. \u201cEven though I am trying my hardest to recover. I don\u2019t think I ever will, but I hope my story can help others to become more aware of the symptoms of meningitis and FND.”<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are not alone,” she concluded.<\/p>\n
Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Vicki Purdey, from Dorset, England, was diagnosed with a life-altering illness after her flu-like symptoms…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84,41531,197636],"class_list":["post-492282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-swns","tag-vicki-purdey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Vicki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/d203a69abaed063b9de44b8d39c3c98f.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n