A 17-year-old girl described as previously "fit and healthy" has been left paralysed and unable to speak after suffering an ultra-rare spinal stroke, which she initially mistook for severe period pain.
From Back Pain to Paralysis: A Rapid Decline
Shakira Gorman, a beauty student from Banbury, Oxfordshire, was at her boyfriend's house just two days before Christmas when she began bleeding heavily. Believing it to be a particularly severe menstrual period, she tried to manage the discomfort. However, her condition deteriorated rapidly when she lost sensation in her arms and hands and began struggling to breathe.
She was rushed by ambulance to Horton Hospital before being blue-lighted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Medical staff were initially baffled by her symptoms. It took over a day of tests, including an MRI scan, to confirm the devastating diagnosis: an ischaemic spinal stroke, caused by a blood clot in her spine.
A Condition 'Unheard Of' in the Young
Spinal strokes are exceptionally rare, affecting roughly one in three million people, and are typically seen in patients aged between 50 and 70. Nursing staff told the family they had never encountered a case in someone as young as Shakira.
"The nurses were baffled, it was a mystery at first," explained her sister-in-law, Chloe Coles, 30. "A spinal stroke is pretty much unheard of in people her age."
Shakira has been in intensive care for over a fortnight, reliant on a ventilator to breathe. She is conscious and can communicate through lip-reading and a word board, but cannot move apart from slight finger movements. She is currently on the waiting list for a specialist bed at the renowned spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Family's Emotional and Financial Strain
Her parents, Lesley and Darren Gorman, spend every visiting hour at her bedside, juggling their work commitments. Her father has reduced his hours at Halfords, while her mother has taken compassionate leave from her roles as a lunch supervisor and in another full-time job.
With three out of four household incomes significantly reduced, the family is facing mounting financial pressure from lost wages, travel costs, and future care needs. Relatives have launched a GoFundMe appeal to help alleviate these burdens, allowing her parents to focus solely on Shakira's support.
Her older sister, Chelsea Coles, 29, said: "My parents are feeling empty, devastated and they're still in shock - it's so unexpected. We don't know what the future holds. At the moment we're taking each day as it comes."
The family hopes that by sharing Shakira's story, they can raise awareness of the warning signs of such rare medical emergencies. Prior to her collapse, Shakira had also complained of pain in her back and shoulders.
