Mum thought call was kids' prank... but it was start of nightmare for son

COLLAPSE AND ‘HORRENDOUS’ SEIZURES FROM ILLNESS THAT'S STILL A MYSTERY AFTER FIVE AGONISING YEARS

- By NEIL SHAW

A MUM thought she was being prank-called by children only to discover it was her son begging for help after falling ill and left unable to walk or talk. Andrea Wray says her son Ash Wray woke up one morning feeling unwell but put it down to working overtime at a local hotel.

The mum-of-two says the 35-year-old collapsed at work but doctors believed it was an ear infection and prescribed him antibiotics.

Andrea then noticed Ash's gait change, starting to walk then not ‘finishing’ his step, something that continued for two months.

One morning the 63-year-old received a call and, perplexed by the garbled repetition of the word ‘mum’, was about to hang up believing it to be a school kid prank. It was only when the retired nurse noticed Ash’s name flashing up on her phone that she knew it was him so rushed home.

Believing Ash was having a stroke and unable to speak, Andrea rushed him to hospital where doctors said it wasn't a stroke but said they ‘didn’t know what it was’.

Once home, Ash began developing ‘extremely painful’ seizures and lost his ability to walk and talk, and still doesn’t have an official diagnosis since it happened in April 2021.

Ash is now fundraising for a stair-lift as he claims the council won't install one for his privately rented fourth-floor flat and he’s forced to “bumshuffle’ down stairs.

Andrea, who lives in Abergele, said: “I got a phone call [while out driving]. All I could hear was ‘Mum mum mum mum’ and I said to my mum ‘just hang up the phone Mum, it’s kids playing about in the Easter holiday.