Paralysed York mum backs rehab centre funding drive

A woman left paralysed from the waist down after giving birth is supporting a fundraising drive for a rehabilitation centre in the north of England.

Irrum Jetha, 43, was treated at Neurokinex in Hertfordshire after she suffered a spinal cord injury in 2014.

After moving to York, the journey became impractical and she is now backing plans for a centre in Leeds.

Not-for-profit Neurokinex says it has raised £450,000 but needs a further £200,000 by 1 June to secure the funds.

Ms Jetha said she spent the first few months of her daughter's life in hospital after a hematoma caused by an epidural during labour.

"Afterwards, I had no movement from my waist, so I was bound to a wheelchair," she said.

However, since using the centre in Hemel Hempstead she said she had begun to feel a "little twitch" in her knee and had progressed to being able to walk with a frame.

She had been making the almost 360-mile round trip from York but had to stop once her daughter started school.

Having a clinic in Leeds would make a "huge impact", she said.

She added: "Neurokinex provided me with an essential service and gave me hope.

"With it nearer to home, it would be very beneficial to me, especially in the way of using equipment that only a specialised centre would have."

Neurokinex also treats people who have suffered strokes, traumatic brain injuries and who are living with MS and has been "delivering life-changing community-based rehab in Bristol, Hemel Hempstead and Gatwick for 10 years".

It has secured £450,000 for the new centre from the National Lottery Community Fund, People's Postcode Innovation Trust and Edward Gostling Foundation but said the donations were "time-limited" and if it could not raise the additional funds in time "the opportunity will be lost".

Daniel, 17, from Newcastle, who was left paralysed in 2020 due to a rare neurological autoimmune disease affecting one in a million people, and Tara Stewart, also from York, both currently travel to the clinic at Gatwick for treatment.

Ms Stewart, who was injured at neck level in a horse riding accident in 2014, described the situation as a "race against time" to get the necessary funding in place.

Spinal injury expert Professor Ronaldo Ichiyama, from the University of Leeds, said: "The window of opportunity is not very large, so, without the missing amount we won't be able to provide not just this service but the opportunity for research and development."

Follow BBC Yorkshire n Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].