{"id":718069,"date":"2026-07-29T23:06:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/718069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T23:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:06:29","slug":"i-had-a-fall-on-holiday-in-new-york-it-turned-out-to-be-devastating-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/718069\/","title":{"rendered":"I had a fall on holiday in New York – it turned out to be ‘devastating’ disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

Balance issues were just the beginning of a series of symptoms for this Nottinghamshire mum<\/p>\n

Laura at her 40th birthday celebrations (cc: submitted)(Image: submitted)<\/p>\n

A Nottinghamshire<\/a> mum has revealed how balance issues and a twitchy leg led to her being given an “absolutely devastating” diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Laura Fitt’s symptoms began with a series of falls on holiday that then rapidly progressed into wider twitchiness in her leg.<\/p>\n

As the 40-year-old’s symptoms continued to deteriorate, she was diagnosed with a form of motor neurone disease (MND)<\/a> and is now trying to reorganise her life after the “devastating” diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Laura, who lives in Sutton in Ashfield<\/a>, has worked in healthcare since she was 18, and was working as a senior staff nurse for Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust prior to her diagnosis.<\/p>\n

She first noticed her symptoms while in New York with her husband John last year, when she fell over multiple times – which Laura put down to the amount of walking they were doing.<\/p>\n

But, after returning from New York, Laura\u2019s symptoms continued to worsen, with the mum-of-four experiencing twitching in her left leg and more falls.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy symptoms were getting worse and worse,” she said. \u201cThen I noticed that I needed to be holding onto something to be able to have my balance and I thought I best go to the GP and get this sorted.”<\/p>\n

After a lengthy diagnosis process, including multiple MRIs, an electromyography and a nerve conduction test, Laura was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – a type of MND.<\/p>\n

ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord which leads to a loss of muscle control.<\/p>\n

Worries for Laura mainly centre on her four children: Ellis, Gabriella, Alex and Harmony.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Laura Fitt and her family (cc: submitted)(Image: Submitted)<\/p>\n

She and John have a special guardianship order for Ellis and Harmony and Laura adopted Alex before she met her husband in 2012.<\/p>\n

Alex, 15, has his own disabilities, including septo-optic dysplasia, autism, and developmental delay and Laura is particularly worried about his understanding of her condition and prognosis.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWith Alex, it\u2019s sort of his level of understanding, I don\u2019t want him to think that when I do die, I\u2019ve just abandoned him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s ever gonna look after your children as good as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura, who describes herself as the \u201corganiser of everything\u201d, now worries about how the family will cope without her.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt\u2019s just absolutely devastating because I always have been sort of the organiser of everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorting any appointments or interactions with professionals it\u2019s always been me that does everything, I\u2019m the main cog, if you like, making sure everything\u2019s ticking over.\u201d<\/p>\n

John, Laura\u2019s husband, is a stay-at-home dad and has been looking after the four children full-time since 2024 to allow Laura to pursue her studies.<\/p>\n

John said: \u201cI was just hoping for anything other than that and then finding out it was that, was quite devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the mum to everybody. She\u2019ll do anything for anybody.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an amazing mum. The kids don\u2019t want for anything, they\u2019ll get everything they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get her diagnosis, Laura had to go for a private consultation – a move that cost \u00a3250.<\/p>\n

ALS causes muscle weakness, twitching, cramps and difficulty speaking and swallowing – all of which Laura has, or is beginning to, experience.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cMy mobility\u2019s really poor, I\u2019ve had to have a stairlift fitted in our home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of shuffle and I can shuffle a few steps and then I need to sit down. I feel tired a lot, I find that when I do stand up to move, I just feel extremely weak, like I could fall over all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy swallow at meal times is getting particularly bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the house Laura has to use an electric wheelchair – that she had to buy herself at a cost of \u00a31,015.<\/p>\n

The stairlift they had installed in the house cost the family \u00a3999.<\/p>\n

She is currently on medication to try and slow down the condition, but as a nurse herself knows the condition will only get worse.<\/p>\n

Now Laura\u2019s focus is spending quality time with her husband and their children while she is still able to. To make the most of this time left, the family have set up a GoFundMe page, asking for donations towards making memories, paying for care and providing her family with financial security after she has passed.<\/p>\n

Laura said: \u201cI do not want people to think I\u2019m just trying to cash in because I\u2019ve been diagnosed with something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful to everybody that\u2019s helping me and supporting me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, the fundraiser has already raised \u00a32,000.<\/p>\n

Anyone who wants to donate to the family\u2019s fundraiser, can click the following link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Balance issues were just the beginning of a series of symptoms for this Nottinghamshire mum Laura at her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,104,15257,2205,15256,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-718069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-nhs","tag-nottinghamshire","tag-real-life","tag-sutton-in-ashfield","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}