Mum left housebound after tick bite

Jade Thompson from Knottingley suffers from Lyme disease which she says has left her disabled at the age of 35.

Caused by tick bites and difficult to detect, the neurological illness can cause persistent flu-like symptoms for years if left untreated.

Testing methods on the NHS are notoriously inaccurate and led to patients collecting in more than 10,000 names on an online petition in 2016 for greater research.

Like many, Jade sought treatment from specialists abroad, but the privately-funded treatment she has been receiving for the past two years is no longer working and now says she needs to raise money for stem cell treatment in Europe.

Her partner, Danny, has even had to give up work as a forklift truck driver to be her full-time carer.

Jade who struggles to walk because of the constant joint and muscle aches, only tends to leave the house for hospital appointments with the aid of a wheelchair and needs Danny to help her wash herself in the bath.

She has also suffered memory loss and has to endure crippling daily migraines.

Jade, who was once a full-time carer for her own mother, said: “It’s just awful living like this. I’m not sure where and when I was bitten by this tick, but I was on holiday in Egypt five years ago and I came down with flu-like symptoms, and I’ve had them ever since.

“I used to love exercise and being outside, going and watching my 12-year-old son play football but I just can’t do that anymore.

“I’m just in constant pain. I can’t even have a bath or shower without help, I’m bed-bound for days afterwards because I’m so exhausted.

“I’ve just got to keep hoping that we can raise the money, I know it will be difficult to get but I have no choice.

“I’m confident the stem cell treatment can help me, it has an 85 per cent success rate for people with Lyme disease so seems like there could be some light at the end of the tunnel.”

To help log onto www.gofundme.com/stem-cells-for-jade-thomson