Mum left disabled after freak accident at home stunned by strangers' actions
A woman whose life changed in an instant when a slip at home left her needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life has thanked the kindness of strangers.
Claire Löwen was busy running typical mum errands when she slipped and fell all the way to the bottom of the stairs at her home. The tumble caused a spinal leak and meant the 40-year-old mum was forced to give up her only source of income at autism charity Spectrum Gaming. She now fears for her future as she awaits multiple hospital surgeries while jobless. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, she's managed to raise almost £6,000 towards petrol, food, travelling and accommodation costs to help her through this difficult time.
“I have shed many happy tears for all the support received so far, people I don’t know have donated hundreds of pounds,” she said. “Since being unable to work, I couldn’t imagine being in the position to help a stranger like that. Donations have already started paying for travel and accommodation for appointments in London next month and removed so much fear about where the money would come from. I cannot express my gratitude enough.”
Claire Löwen's life changed in an instant (Claire Löwen)
Claire now needs a wheelchair (Claire Löwen)Claire, who lives in Prestwich, was immediately rushed to hospital following the fall where medics performed a CT scan back in November 2022. The mum was told she had no broken bones and she was sent home with painkillers. “I was told to be really careful and not to do any lifting, bending or twisting for the next eight weeks,” the mum said. “I remember the radiographer telling me to take care. I went home with painkillers thinking, that’s fine, I’ve only damaged my coccyx.
“But over the next few days, I was vomiting, had headaches and the pain was horrific," she told the Manchester Evening News. The mum returned to hospital for another CT scan as medics were concerned she had a bleed on the brain. A bleed was ruled out but medics failed to spot she had a cerebral spinal fluid leak. The leak occurs when there is a tear or hole in the membranes surrounding the brain or spinal cord, allowing the clear fluid that surrounds and cushions those organs to escape.
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The fluid was travelling down her spine and pooling into a spinal cyst – affecting her bladder, brain, bowel, arms and organs. The leak wasn’t detected until Claire received a report a day before her birthday saying a 7cm cyst had been found on her spine.
“It can’t fix the bone erosion and I will never go back to who I was,” Claire said. "I used to do 20k steps a day and now I’ll never not need to use a wheelchair and I’ll never be fully fit. It was really difficult to understand because if you look it up online, a lot of the information is not correct. I’m a really positive person. I’m really optimistic and I think because I’m a caregiver to my kids, I try and stay optimistic for them."
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