Some of you may remember, a few years ago, I started a crowdfunding site to raise money to help my granddaughter, Amy and we received a number of donations for which we are extremely grateful.
This is a brief update of her life since those days.
Her story begins when she had gained a teaching degree and had begun work at an infant school for children 4 to 7. A couple of years after she started she caught a throat infection from one of the children and ended up being sent to hospital. The emergency doctor tried to insert a cannula and reused the same needle several times because he had difficulty finding a suitable vein. This practice is strongly discouraged and in fact, as a result her whole arm became infected.
To cut a long story very short; she developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
(Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition that affects limbs and is characterized by persistent, severe pain that's disproportionate to the injury. It's often triggered by an injury to the limb, such as a fracture, surgery, or immobilization, but can also occur spontaneously. CRPS pain can spread beyond the injury site, sometimes affecting the entire limb.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is consistently recognized as one of the most painful chronic pain conditions, typically scoring around 42 out of 50 on the McGill Pain Scale. This puts it on par with or even exceeding the pain levels associated with amputation of a finger without anesthesia and childbirth, according to Burning Nights CRPS Support and UK Parliament. Some studies even suggest CRPS Type II can reach as high as 47 out of 50.) Thanks to Google.
It’s sometimes called the suicide disease because of the intense and enduring pain and requests to have the affected limb removed to stop the pain have to be routinely ignored as it doesn’t stop the pain, even in a phantom limb. Some people have attempted suicide to kill the pain.
She deals with the pain using techniques she has learned. It is still bad but she manages it. Unfortunately as the disease progressed she lost all feeling below the waist and is now confined to a wheelchair. You might feel sorry for her but she doesn’t feel sorry for herself.
So moving on after seven years at a neurological rehab unit, Amy began to write about her condition on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. She is now followed by more than 3.7 million people on TikTok, with 264 million likes,from all around the word! On YouTube she has 640,000 subscribers and 499, 393, 143 viewings of her 456 videos.
She has become an inspiration to thousands of people. She was invited to the 2024 Summer Paris Paralympics by channel four TV to talk to competitors. She’s been on TV a few times. She is invited to attend numerous events which have a disability theme.
She will try anything to prove that her disability doesn’t stop her living life to the full. She has ridden horses, ‘rolled’ the full distance in the Great North Run, water skied on a waterboard, done adaptive rock climbing and so much more. She is fearless and loves going on thrill rides if she can get on them. I have barely scratched the surface of her life, but if you wish to see some her posts and videos just put Amy Pohl into google.
A huge thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and wishes and gifts
JC.
She is very courageous John. I don't know how she does it but, it's good to see her living life to the full despite the difficulties that she has endured, and is enduring .
ReplyDeleteZhy
Thanks Zhy. She’s a fighter! JC
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