Beverley woman's fight for respect with rare disorder

'WHEN I GOT MY DIAGNOSIS I COULD HAVE THROWN A PARTY'

- By TOM KEIGHLEY

Sophie Davis, who lives in Beverley, wants to draw attention to functional neurological disorder, which has blighted her life

A YOUNG East Yorkshire woman who suffers seizures and even paralysis wants to shine a spotlight on the little-known medical condition that is blighting her life.

Sophie Davis, 22, has described the frustration of living with functional neurological disorder (FND) which impacts the normal pathways of the brain and can cause blackouts, tremors and stammering among a host of symptoms.

The Beverley woman says clinicians and even some neurological doctors lack understanding of the condition - leading to a “rocky” experience since her own diagnosis last year.

It comes after years of non-epileptic seizures which can vary from “absence seizures” which can look like Sophie is zoned out of the conversation through to “drop attacks” where she suddenly falls unconscious, with no memory of what has happened.