Girl paralysed by rare illness

A GIFTED young horse rider from Banwell is stranded almost 100 miles from home after being left paralysed from the head down by a rare illness.

Abby Rout, aged 20, was out on a college reunion in Hampshire when she was struck down by the sudden spinal condition transverse myelitis.

The equine student was unable to move muscle below her head just two hours after initially losing feeling in her hand and dropping her handbag.

Doctors, who took a week to diagnose the condition, sent Abby to a rehabilitation unit at Western Community Hospital in Southampton, where she remains today - six weeks later.

From her hospital bed, the former Westhaven pupil said: "It is unbelievable what has happened to me.

"I was out with friends and had nothing alcoholic to drink when I lost feeling in my hand, and then I couldn't move a thing. You can't really imagine what it was like.

"Although I've gradually been able to get some feeling on my right side I'm still stuck to the bed and cannot walk.

"Doctors are still not sure how much I can recover, but I'm trying to remain strong and focused.

"I'm desperate to get back home and be with my family and friends again, and I'm not giving up on the hope of riding my horse Pandora."

The condition is described as a rare neurological disorder which can affect the whole of the body's central nervous system.

Celebrity Leslie Ash, wife of former footballer Lee Chapman, was hospitalised after suffering a similar form of the disease last year.

Abby's step-mother Sharon said: "To say it's been devastating would be wrong, it's been heartbreaking for us all.

"We're doing everything we can to bring her closer to home and I've told her she will be going out with her friends to celebrate her 21st whether she is in a wheelchair or not."

Her father, a coastguard rescue officer, Andy, said: "Abby has been incredibly brave and strong considering what she has been through.

"If I had been through the same I think I would have wanted my lads to take me to the cliff and leave me, but Abby has shown immense character and I know she will pull through this."

The family are bidding to move Abby closer to home by transferring her to Musgrove Hospital in Taunton.

Meanwhile, however, Burnham Coastguard Association has paid hundreds of pounds in petrol for her father and step-mother to visit her in Southampton.

Abby left Westhaven school before attending the Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy in Dorset and then Sparsholt College in Winchester this year.

She hopes to regain her strength and become a horse riding teacher.