Woman, 22, unable to walk after waking up to find half her face ‘paralyzed’

Lillie Thorne, a 22-year-old healthcare assistant from Cumbria, woke with weakness on one side of her face, then lost the ability to speak and walk over the following days. After hospital investigations, doctors diagnosed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), a condition affecting how the brain sends and receives information; her family is seeking private specialist treatment because she does not qualify for the relevant NHS service.

Thorne was first diagnosed with Bell’s palsy and later treated for suspected Ramsay Hunt disease, but her symptoms worsened. By 7 October she could not speak or walk and was having up to 30 seizures a day; she was discharged on 22 October and has since regained speech, though she still stutters and slurs, has seizures and cannot walk. Her family is fundraising for consultation and rehabilitation in Leeds, while she has been referred for physiotherapy.