Paralysed Mum's Promise - I Vowed To Walk For My Baby

Holly Gerlach Was Struck Down By A Debilitating Health Condition When Her Bub Was Just Weeks Old

- Keeley Henderson

As she gently cradled her precious newborn daughter for the very first time, new mum Holly Gerlach cried tears of overwhelming joy.

“I fell in love with Casey immediately and couldn’t wait to start our future together,” she tells New Idea.

“The first three weeks were incredible, getting to know my daughter and learning about being a mother. I spent many hours sitting in my rocking chair breastfeeding her, just looking into her eyes.”

However, Holly’s happiness was cut cruelly short when Casey was just 3 weeks old.

“I had a tingle in my finger tip and weakness in my legs. Then, when I stood up to breastfeed my daughter, I fell to the ground.”

Less than 48 hours later, Holly was in hospital completely paralysed. Tests revealed she had a rare autoimmune disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome, or GBS, which causes the body’s immune system to attack the peripheral nervous system.

It left Holly, from Edmonton, Canada, paralysed from the neck down and in excruciating pain.

“Although I was on life support, I was completely aware of my surroundings. When anyone touched me a sharp pain shot through my body. I was convinced I was dying.”