An Australian mother who was paralysed in Africa and nearly died twice is unsure if she will ever regain control of her body.
Leah Makanda, from Newcastle in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, first became ill in Uganda in March.
The mother of four, who suffers from Addison’s disease, was unable to move after her illness was triggered by the stress she felt upon hearing of the death of a student. She worked for a charity Ms Makanda set up to help poor families.
Ms Makanda developed malaria and suffered from sepsis and was taken to hospital with severe chest pains as blood clots formed in her lungs.
She lost consciousness twice and had to be resuscitated with cortisol steroids and fluids to prevent cardiac arrest.
Just one week after starting treatment, Ms Makanda experienced severe pain all over her body and lost movement in her arms and legs.
“I couldn’t move any part of my body except my head and my neck barely moved,” Makanda told 7News.
“It was like a battery went off and no one knew what happened.”
Ms Makanda (pictured) was left paralysed a week into her treatment after experiencing severe pain all over her body and quickly losing movement in her arms and legs
The hospital where Ms Makanda was admitted did not have the facilities and resources to provide her with the care she needed.
She became immobile and completely dependent on her husband Robert, his family and caregivers
Her family back home in Australia launched a GoFundMe so that Mrs Makanda could fly back home to receive the specialist care she needed.
Eventually she regained enough movement of her limbs to be flown back to Newcastle in May.
She was admitted to the John Hunter Hospital and diagnosed with functional neurological disorders, which are diseases caused by changes in the way the brain works.
Mrs Makanda’s loved ones gathered to ask for donations so she could come home and get the treatment she needed. She is pictured with her husband Robert
She was recently released from the hospital, but still has a long road to recovery and doesn’t know if her body will ever return to normal.
“It’s something I might have to live with. It’s been really, really hard – it’s changed the future for us,” she said.
Mrs Makanda is grateful for the support she has received since she became ill.
Mrs Makanda had lived in Uganda for 11 years, having first visited the landlocked country as a teenager on a trip with the Salvation Army to help children in orphanages.
She met her husband during a separate visit when she was 25 and the couple soon married and had three boys and a girl, whom they adopted.
Mrs Makanda (pictured centre) was recently discharged from John Hunter Hospital but she still has a long road to recovery and is unsure if her body will ever return to normal.
The duo founded the Mbuyu Foundation, with the aim of helping men, women and children live a life free from poverty.
Ms Makanda has not given up hope of returning to Uganda, the country she calls home, to help hundreds of families in need.
But right now she’s living day by day as she continues her recovery.
