Hollie Dutton, from Sittingbourne, was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in July 2025<\/p>\n
Her grandad Harold had Parkinson\u2019s before he died, so she says it was \u201cquite worrying\u201d at first, but that it was put down to anxiety or a trapped nerve. However, they then started to get worse and spread up her arms.<\/p>\n
She was referred to a neurologist and underwent an MRI after doctors feared she could have suffered a stroke.<\/p>\n
Scans revealed she had syringomyelia, a rare neurological disorder where a cyst forms inside the spinal cord and expands over time, damaging surrounding nerve tissue, and spondylolisthesis, a spinal condition where one bone slips forward onto the bone below it. It was believed these were causing the tremors.<\/p>\n
By April last year, Hollie started having tremors in her legs and began experiencing episodes of paralysis.<\/p>\n
The 16-year-old told KentOnline: \u201cEvery now and then I’d go to school and my legs would give way to the point that I couldn’t walk properly and I would just fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to play hockey pretty much full time for six years, and I was very active. But one day I was playing hockey, and my legs stopped working, and I had to get carried off the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
To rule out a tumour in her spinal cord, she was given another MRI and in July 2025 she was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) – a problem with how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body.<\/p>\n
According to the NHS, FND is estimated to be the second most common reason for neurological consultations after headaches, with up to 100,000 people in the UK being diagnosed with the condition.<\/p>\n
It is often triggered by a combination of physical injury and psychological stress from underlying neurological conditions.<\/p>\n
While those who have FND often experience persistent and varying symptoms, it can be potentially treatable.<\/p>\n
Hollie woke up with paralysis following a seizure
Hollie now wants to use her experience to help other people living with FND, as well as their families<\/p>\n
Hollie says receiving the diagnosis was a relief after months of uncertainty, as she had previously thought she \u201cwouldn\u2019t make it to 16\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cIt was definitely a relief for me knowing that I wasn’t going crazy. Having to go to all these appointments to find out if it was something sinister was very worrying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diagnosis itself was a relief, but my life completely changed overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
She eventually went private to see a neuropsychologist and has been receiving cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big challenge is that you can’t really treat it,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s not really medication that can change it, it’s very much a \u2018you\u2019 battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
On one occasion while playing hockey, Hollie had to be carried off the pitch after her legs stopped working<\/p>\n
Her symptoms became particularly severe between September and December last year, when she was suffering seizures almost daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been in five ambulances, had seizures for up to five hours and have woken up paralysed,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the time when I was at school I was having seizures pretty much daily, and sometimes they would last for like hours on end on and off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would miss lessons, and that really worried me so I’d end up catching up all six hours of work over the weekend and after school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like a burden on people so I would hide away and would put myself in difficult situations where I would have seizures in bathrooms, and I had a seizure on barbed wire once.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollie still experiences temporary paralysis, as well as verbal and motor tics<\/p>\n
Hollie, who is now in sixth form studying history, art and maths, says her symptoms have become a lot more manageable in the past few months.<\/p>\n
She still experiences temporary paralysis, as well as verbal and motor tics, but has now been seizure-free for 10 weeks.<\/p>\n
She said: “A major part of the condition is accepting who you have become. When everything started happening, it was very much grieving who I used to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think a lot of people see that you’re grieving an old life. You’ve had to start from scratch again, knowing that every day is different and uncertain.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing from being really active to not being able to walk some days, to being on the floor, I just felt really vulnerable and weak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollie had been playing hockey for six years before her diagnosis<\/p>\n
Hollie, who is hoping to go to university to study architecture, now wants to use her experience to help other people living with FND, as well as their families.<\/p>\n
She began sharing her experiences of the disorder on her Instagram, hols_.awareness, and TikTok, hols_.awarenessacc, after reaching what she described as “rock bottom” at the end of last year.<\/p>\n
She has received messages from more than 100 people who have recently been diagnosed, as well as relatives looking for advice on how to support loved ones.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThere is so little education and awareness, and many patients are diagnosed and discharged without a management plan, usually given a leaflet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when no one really knows about it, you kind of feel like you’re the only one and there’s no one you can relate to.<\/p>\n
Hollie says she is relieved to have a diagnosis<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does feel like you’re isolating yourself because you feel a bit chaotic and like you don’t belong.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the reality is that you’re not really a burden on people. You’re just trying to navigate your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
FND symptoms can range widely, and include fainting, vision issues, speech difficulties, brain fog, chronic pain and sleep problems.<\/p>\n