{"id":1203,"date":"2025-07-14T22:19:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/1203\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T22:19:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T22:19:27","slug":"i-went-from-fit-and-healthy-to-being-unable-to-move-talk-or-even-breathe-without-help-in-just-24-hours-thanks-to-a-rare-condition-and-no-one-knows-what-caused-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/1203\/","title":{"rendered":"I went from fit and healthy to being unable to move, talk or even breathe without help in just 24 hours thanks to a rare condition… and no one knows what caused it"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the stuff of nightmares. Fully conscious, aware of everything and everyone yet unable to move, communicate, or even breathe unassisted. Some call it \u2018locked in syndrome.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mallory Wilkerson refers to it as a \u2018waking coma\u2019, and it was her horrifying reality for three agonizing months back in the Fall of 2024.<\/p>\n

That was when, within the space of 24 hours, she went from being a seemingly fit and healthy mother-of-one to a bed-bound patient, hooked up to a ventilator and trapped in her own body.<\/p>\n

August 29, 2024, is not a date Wilkerson will ever forget. That was the day that everything changed, and it began with the smallest of sensations \u2013 a strange tingling in her hands and feet.<\/p>\n

She was lying in bed, mentally preparing for the day ahead, when she noticed the feeling along with the realization that her wrist felt numb.<\/p>\n

She assumed she\u2019d been lying awkwardly on it during the night and went about her routine, making breakfast for her then five-year-old son, Beckham.<\/p>\n

Washing her hands in the kitchen sink, she thought something was wrong with the water because it stayed at room temperature despite her turning the hot tap all the way.<\/p>\n

\u2018Then I started to have severe muscle ache, like I\u2019d worked too hard at the gym the previous day,\u2019 she told the Daily Mail. \u2018It was incredibly painful to get up from the sofa.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Mallory Wilkerson lies in a ‘waking coma’ after being struck with a rare autoimmune condition. She couldn’t communicate with her son, Beckham, five, who would try and comfort her by snuggling close in the hospital<\/p>\n

\"Wilkerson, <\/p>\n

Wilkerson, a certified nursing assistant, looking fit and well during the summer before she became unwell, seemingly out of the blue<\/p>\n

\"She <\/p>\n

She couldn’t change her facial expressions while she was in the grips of her illness but was deeply touched whenever Beckham showed her pictures from his story books<\/p>\n

She spent much of the day drifting in and out of sleep but still showed up to her overnight shift as a certified nursing assistant at a facility for seniors.<\/p>\n

The scheduler took one look at her face and told her to go the ER. She drove herself to the hospital where she described her symptoms to the triage team before seeing a doctor several hours later.<\/p>\n

She was categorized as low priority because she wasn\u2019t doubled up in pain. And, when the physician examined her, he said it was likely she had Covid or flu.<\/p>\n

\u2018He told me to go home and take some ibuprofen,\u2019 Wilkerson said. However, she said her nursing training made her assert herself and say she feared it was more serious than he initially thought.<\/p>\n

She repeated her story about not being able to distinguish the temperature of the tap water earlier and, when he brought in a bucket of ice, showed how she couldn\u2019t even tell whether it was freezing cold.<\/p>\n

The experiment triggered a visit from a neurologist who ordered a series of tests. She was given bloodwork and a CT scan which didn\u2019t immediately reveal that anything was wrong.<\/p>\n

Still, she was assigned her own room at 5am and monitored because her symptoms hadn\u2019t improved and she was feeling dizzy and unstable on her feet. Her mother, Dawn, who was looking after Beckham, had wanted to visit her during the night but Wilkerson, of Carrolton, Kentucky, discouraged her because she didn\u2019t want to make a fuss.<\/p>\n

\u2018I told her to tell Beckham that I wasn\u2019t feeling very good, but I\u2019d be back with him soon,\u2019 she said. \u2018I didn\u2019t want him to feel panicked or worried.\u2019<\/p>\n

Then around lunchtime, she experienced the scariest symptoms of all. A friend brought a homemade meal to her bedside. The 26-year-old started to choke as soon as she tried to swallow a small bite.<\/p>\n

The same thing happened when she attempted to eat a pudding that was almost all liquid. \u2018It felt like my throat was closing up,\u2019 she said. By now, she had lost the ability to move her limbs and was breathless. Baffled, but now suspecting something serious, the doctors ordered the first of what turned out to be a series of spinal taps.<\/p>\n

In the interim, as they waited for the results, they became concerned about Wilkerson\u2019s lack of nutrition because she couldn’t eat anything. Around three days after she was admitted, she was fitted with a nasal gastric tube which was later attached to a port in her stomach.<\/p>\n

A few days later, worse was to come when the doctors were so concerned about her ongoing breathlessness, they put her on a ventilator.<\/p>\n

\"Wilkerson, <\/p>\n

Wilkerson, hooked up to a ventilator and the other essential equipment keeping her alive in the early days of her diagnosis<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: The flight from the first hospital where Wilkerson was treated in Louiseville, Kentucky, to a second, more specialist facility in Atlanta, Georgia<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Wilkerson with Beckham, who cuddled up to his mother after having his face painted as a super hero<\/p>\n

It was the beginning of a traumatic three-month period where she was paralyzed and unable to breathe on her own or speak – a state which, today, she describes as a type of \u2018waking coma.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I could hear everything people said and was 100 percent alert and aware of my surroundings, but I felt trapped in my body,\u2019 she said. \u2018Try as I might, I couldn\u2019t even make facial expressions.\u2019<\/p>\n

The move to the ventilator happened shortly before the results from the spinal tap finally came in. There was a diagnosis at last.<\/p>\n

Wilkerson and her family were told she had Guillain-Barr\u00e9 Syndrome or GBS. The rare autoimmune disease in which the body\u2019s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, rendering muscle weakness and, in severe case like Wilkerson\u2019s, resulting in complete paralysis.<\/p>\n

Nobody knows the exact cause of GBS, but it is believed to be triggered by some form of bacterial or viral infection.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d never heard of it,\u2019 she said. \u2018I had so many questions but couldn\u2019t speak so I couldn\u2019t ask.<\/p>\n

\u2018The doctors were careful not to say it in front to me, but they told my family that it was the worst case they\u2019d ever seen. They said that I was likely to never walk again and need to use a wheelchair.\u2019<\/p>\n

Wilkerson\u2019s muscles and nerves were severely damaged, causing immense pain. She was administered morphine, but, unable to speak because of the tracheostomy needed for the ventilator, struggled to tell staff when she needed more relief.<\/p>\n

She also found it hard when visitors would cry when they\u2019d see her lying helplessly in her hospital room. \u2018I\u2019d feel bad for them, but I couldn\u2019t say any words of comfort.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her frustration was somewhat relieved when her parents devised a system where they\u2019d recite the letters of the alphabet nearby.<\/p>\n

Wilkerson, who is chronicling her journey on TikTok <\/a>would spell out phrases by nodding her head \u2014 mercifully she retained that capacity \u2014 when they reached the right letter. They\u2019d write the letter on a whiteboard and spell out different phrases.<\/p>\n

It was a painfully slow process but helped her communicate some of her needs and feelings. Although he was initially frightened by all the tubes and wires, Beckham \u2014 who was cared for mostly by his grandparents and other close relatives \u2014 visited almost every day.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d bring story books, snuggle up to his mother on the bed, show her the pictures and pretend to read. \u2018It was a great way for him to learn his letters before kindergarten,\u2019 Wilkerson laughed, adding that it gave her joy to receive his hugs, even though she couldn\u2019t reciprocate.<\/p>\n

She also benefited from listening to music, specifically Christian songs. Then she developed a taste for Coldplay because the band was a favorite of one of her night nurses.<\/p>\n

After first receiving care in Louisville, Kentucky, she was flown to Atlanta, Georgia, in October where her treatment included a string of blood transfusions.<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Beckham mimics his mother ‘stepping’ during one of her many physical therapy sessions to regain her ability to walk<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Wilkerson made enough progress to graduate to a walker, with her little boy proudly at her side<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Wilkerson larks around with Beckham in a rehabilitation facility where she was eventually treated as an outpatient<\/p>\n

To the delight of her family and the medical staff, her body gradually responded. It started with a little movement in her upper body in November which spread to her legs and feet the following month.<\/p>\n

Wilkerson\u2019s breathing improved and she began to do \u2018breathing trials\u2019 which involved being taken off the ventilator for a short period to learn how to manage without it. The process caused a lot of anxiety, but her persistence paid off.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of November she was taken off the ventilator permanently and, after three tortuous months, she was finally able to speak.<\/p>\n

Her first words \u2014 directed towards Beckham \u2014 were \u2018I love you.\u2019 It meant the world to the little boy as he reacted to the familiar, reassuring sound of his mother\u2019s voice<\/p>\n

\u2018It felt wonderful to finally reconnect with him and everybody else after feeling like a spectator on life,\u2019 Wilkerson, said.<\/p>\n

She said that she had been craving Coke the entire time and having a glass of the soda finally pressed to her lips felt like heaven. \u2018Honestly, it was mainly the little things that made the difference.\u2019<\/p>\n

Her recovery, which she is chronicling on TikTok continued with countless physical therapy sessions as an in-patient and, as her mobility improved, an out-patient. She defied expectations by freely moving her legs on the exercise equipment before taking a few tentative steps.<\/p>\n

Now, after being fully discharged from hospital in February, she can walk and move her joints relatively well, albeit without much feeling in her feet.<\/p>\n

\"Pictured: <\/p>\n

Pictured: Wilkerson and Beckham today after the single mother’s ordeal. She says she is grateful to no longer be a bystander in his life<\/p>\n

Although she\u2019s able to care for Beckham again full-time, she can\u2019t run after him or get down on the floor to play. Nor can she return to work. She said, \u2018Beckham will ask me things like, \u201cWhen are you not going to be sick anymore?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

She still has vestiges of facial paralysis and can\u2019t fully smile or close her mouth the whole way. \u2018I\u2019m hoping this will all improve over time,\u201d she told the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n

As traumatic as it was, she said the best thing to come out of her \u2018waking coma\u2019 was a new appreciation for physical and verbal contact with others. \u2018I\u2019m not sitting on the sidelines anymore,\u2019 she added.<\/p>\n