"I Feel Powerful Now" - Gemma's MS Journey and her passion for care at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

Gemma Devine, a Healthcare Assistant with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, is using her journey with multiple sclerosis (MS) to inspire patients, colleagues, and young people alike - proving chronic illness doesn't have to hold you back.

- By Chris Boden Contributor

Gemma, 28, works on Rookwood A, a dementia-friendly ward at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital.

However, at 18, with ambitions to go to university and train to be a journalist, she suffered stroke-like conditions, including left-sided paralysis, and started a six-year wait for an official MS diagnosis.

After almost six years with no medication and no answers, Gemma admits: "I remember describing it as my life coming to a halt in the cruelest way. I fell deep into depression as I couldn't see any prospects for my life, and I couldn't see myself having a normal life."

During her time in hospital, she didn't have the strength to lift her arms high enough to brush her teeth or comb her hair and is still suffering with the consequences, having had seven teeth removed, and her cut off due to matting, which was "the most dehumanizing, devastating and humiliating moment of my life."

Today, she’s thriving both personally and professionally.

"The Trust has shaped me as a person, definitely," says Gemma. "There's a massive difference in my confidence and my speech. Aftab Zamir became my tutor in January and has done so much for my confidence. He's given me that moral support when I need it and just helped me generally."