A carer has been left wheelchair-bound for life after her legs went numb while she was watching TV.
Emily Overton had battled with sharp pains in her knees on and off since she was just 12 years old, but dismissed it as nothing serious.
The 23-year-old was stunned when she went to get up from the sofa from a late night viewing of WWE wrestling on July 16 last year, only to find she ‘couldn’t move’.
The former carer, of Ulceby, near Grimsby, was rushed to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with arteriovenous malformations (AVM) on her spine.
AVM occurs when a tangle of blood vessels with abnormal connections forms between arteries and veins. The body then creates ‘shortcuts’ for oxygen-rich blood to reach tissues, which can lead to the death of nerve cells.
Medics have warned Miss Overton the damage is so severe she has been left permanently paralysed from the waist down.
Now completely dependent on her boyfriend of six years Josh Reed-Osbourne, 23, Miss Overton claims the hardest part to accept is never being able walk down the aisle at their wedding.
Emily Overton will be wheelchair bound for life after her legs went numb while she was watching WWE. She suffers from arteriovenous malformations, which occurs when a tangle of blood vessels with abnormal connections forms between arteries and veins. The body then creates ‘shortcuts’ for blood to reach tissues, which can lead to the death of nerve cells
Miss Overton is now dependent on her boyfriend of six years Josh Reed-Osbourne (pictured together). Unable to go to the toilet by herself, Mr Reed-Osbourne even has to make her cups of tea. But the hardest part to accept is she will never walk down the aisle at their wedding
Speaking of the ordeal, Miss Overton said: ‘Me and my boyfriend are really big fans of WWE, so we stayed up late to watch it specially.
‘It was about 3:30am when I decided to go to bed. I’d had my legs up on the chair in front of me and they felt a bit numb.
‘It was when I tried to get up I realised I couldn’t move them at all. I burst into tears, I was hysterical.’
Throughout her teenage years, Miss Overton underwent physiotherapy to cope with the intermittent pain in her knees.
With her condition never being diagnosed, Miss Overton noticed the discomfort had become more severe in the weeks before the incident.
After being unable to move her legs, things went from bad to worse when Miss Overton wet herself when she lost control of her lower body.
Her boyfriend stayed calm and dialed the non-emergency NHS number 111 for advice.
After being told to get to hospital immediately, Miss Overton was rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary and then transferred to Pinderfields hospital, where she was diagnosed.
‘As soon as doctors told me I was paralysed, I broke down,’ she said.
‘It wasn’t good. I couldn’t really believe it.’
Writing on her Facebook page, Miss Overton claims she was forced to undergo three operations in as many days.
She even required open-back surgery so doctors could remove her AVM bundle.
Miss Overton spent three months recovering at the Pinderfields spinal unit, which is part of The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals trust.
‘Those three months were the hardest I have ever had to face,’ she wrote on Facebook.
Miss Overton now relies on her boyfriend, who she met on the school bus on the way to college, to do everything for her.
‘I can take the not walking, I can accept that – it’s the fact I can’t even go to the toilet by myself,’ she said.
‘I was a really, really independent person beforehand and now I’ve totally lost that – Josh has to do nearly everything for me now.
‘I can’t cook, I can’t wash up, I can’t even make a cup of tea.’
Although Miss Overton tries hard to stay positive, she has moments when it all gets too much.
‘I have good days and bad days though I try my best to remain positive,’ she said.
‘What really breaks my heart is that I’ll never be able to walk down the aisle.
‘Josh has been really supportive but it’s been difficult.’
Miss Overton dreams of competing in the 2024 Paralympic Games after recently discovering a talent for shooting.
She will also participate in a charity ‘walk’ in aid of The Butterfly AVM Charity later this month.
Donate via her Facebook group here.
Miss Overton (pictured left and right before the ordeal) used to be a ‘really, really independent person’. She is now unable to cook or even wash up but tries hard to stay positive