As my younger sister Sadie, then 24, rested her head on my shoulder, she sighed deeply. It was a Friday night and we were hanging out together watching our favorite TV show, Love Island – a guilty pleasure of ours. Only two years apart in age, Sadie and I were best friends as well as sisters. Spending time together like this wasn’t unusual, except we’d usually be lounging on a sofa at home, sharing a bottle of wine, and planning our next trip abroad. Instead, Sadie was curled up next to me on my hospital bed in Majorca, Spain, and our conversation was one-way – she talked and I listened. Because that was all I could do. And even though I knew Sadie’s head was on my shoulder, I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel anything from my neck down, and I had no idea if I ever would again.
I’d moved to Spain six weeks earlier, in April 2019, after securing a job at a hotel in Ibiza as a nursery nurse, and Sadie had already booked flights to visit me. ‘I can’t wait to see you,’ she’d said over the phone a few days before her planned arrival.
That afternoon, after finishing my shift at work, I was exhausted, but when I tried to sleep, I couldn’t. I kept feeling like I needed to go to the loo, but no matter how many times I got up I couldn’t seem to relieve myself.
Trapped and scared
I put it down to a bladder infection, telling myself I’d get antibiotics the next day, and eventually, I drifted off, but the next morning my tummy ached and I could barely muster the strength to sit up in bed. I went to see the doctor and, after explaining that I’d not been able to empty my bladder since the day before, he called an ambulance. I was taken to the hospital to have a catheter fitted and told I’d need to be kept in overnight.
‘I tried to speak but nothing came out’
This story is from the March 2, 2021 edition of WOMAN'S OWN.
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This story is from the March 2, 2021 edition of WOMAN'S OWN.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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