My Surgery Cured Me - Then I Became Paralyzed | BORN DIFFERENT

I was cured and paralyzed by the same surgery because I had an allergic reaction to the

anesthesia. At first I didn't want to believe it. It was like there's no way this could be

happening. I was going in to get something fixed and I come out and I've lost so much

Doctors told me I would never walk again but I know I'm going to prove them wrong

Today my friend Enrique is coming over and I'm going to try and break my record for standing

time. I'm nervous to see what I can do but this is the next step towards walking again

Three, two, one. This is my formula. I have this condition called gastroparesis which makes me unable to really

digest food. So this is a feeding tube and the tube goes into my small intestine

because I was paralyzed before getting diagnosed with this I was already like

more used to that routine and so this has just been added on to it

I wake up an hour earlier now just with all my other medical stuff too

Tell us a little about the heart symptoms you started experiencing when you were younger

When I was 15, my heart rate got to 225 laying down, and my whole body was just feeling so weird

They did an EKG, and they found something wrong with my heart and diagnosed me with Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome

So it was basically an issue with the electrical system in your heart. It's episodes of really rapid heart rate, and a normal heart beats like this, and mine was beating like this, kind of all over the place

A few years after my diagnosis, I was going back to boarding school and I really wasn't

feeling good and I knew an episode was coming. I woke up in the back of the airplane getting CPR and oxygen

I was terrified. I was rushed to the hospital and I just remember like the beeping was nonstop The surgery I had what they did was they had like wires and they went in through my neck and like my groin

I had like an extra pathway in my heart and they kind of just like got rid of it

The surgery cured my heart. I don't have wolf-fricots and white anymore

When I woke up from surgery, I realized something was wrong. My legs were in excruciating pain

and within the span of three days, I was paralyzed from the waist down

Basically what happened while I was in surgery, I had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia

and it caused my brain to disconnect with the pathways in my legs

I think hearing that news at first, I didn't want to believe it

I was like, there's no way this could be happening. I was going in to get something fixed and I come out and I've lost so much

I can't move my legs. I'm in pain 24-7. And I think hearing that was just like, I'm not going to let that happen

I'm going to walk again. So this is my standing frame. I use this every day and basically this gets me into a standing position

So I started going to this paralysis gym and they have machines there and one was called an exoskeleton

and with the exoskeleton it's basically this like robot that kind of like walks for you

Here are some videos of me in the exoskeleton machine. Once I had more core strength, I was able to start using that and honestly it was the best feeling in the world

I wasn't doing it on my own and the machine was doing it, but I was still getting that walking movement

So I started this GoFundMe to help me get the tools I need to walk again and support myself

I'm going to be using the money for an exoskeleton and then hand controls for a car

The exoskeleton is so important because that gets my legs in the walking motion Some say with that that I be walking and then others have just said you not gonna walk again When they said that I was like that not true I know I gonna walk

again I know I can do this and I'm gonna prove them wrong. Let's do some standing

I was like you know what I'm gonna just start standing and maybe post some

videos about it and see where it goes and then I started getting views on it

and encouragement and that really helped me a lot. I put a lot of energy into my social media accounts

I post a lot on there on my recovery and journey and walking again

When I was at the gym they had this walker with actually a piece of wood that blocked

so I was able to use it and I was like, oh my gosh, I want to make my own and work on standing

I do like daily kind of things on my Instagram. I just kind of see how long I can to go

My friend Enrique is coming over and I'm going to try and break my record for standing time. Hi

How have you been? I'm good, how are you? Good, good. Just been, yeah, going all over the place

Been in Seattle for a few days. So I'm trying to set a new standing record

Would you be down to film it? Yeah, of course. We can definitely give it a go. My current record is four minutes

I am hoping to break it and do five minutes. I think it will be challenging, but I think I'll be able to do it

All right, let me know when you're ready. I'm ready. Three, two, one

All right, and we're up. I met Enrique through Instagram. He slid into my DMs and was like, hey, I'm also from Washington

I was like, oh my gosh. And yeah, we started talking. All right, we're at 25 seconds

I saw she was playing for the Kraken sled hockey team. and I thought that was super cool and interesting

And I went to a few practices with her and we've just kind of been friends since

We are coming up on the two minute mark. Just kind of seeing the strength that she has

to keep pushing forward and just live her life regardless of any situation that been thrown at her definitely is inspiring You doing so good Bella

Three, two, one, five minutes. Oh my gosh. Today Bella set out to break her record with standing. She absolutely crushed it

How does that make you feel? Tired. Tired. Very tired. I can't believe I did it

I'm very proud of myself. There's nothing holding her back from walking again

Let's go. Oh, yes. Let's go. For so long, I had such black and white thinking and just like, oh, I'm never going to get better

And then I was like, I only get this life once. Why do I want to live it

Just thinking like, I'm never going to walk again when I could get up and try

Three years ago, if I saw where I was today, I would not believe it

I have come so far. I did not think I would be able to stand five minutes

on my walker. Bella's done an amazing job overcoming just every circumstance life has thrown at her

She finds a way to make it work, I look forward to seeing the progress she makes going forward

If anyone watching this is going through what I'm going through, just remember, even on the hard days, look for the light and that it does get better

You only get this life once and it's precious. It may seem like times are so hard and you just want to give up and you don't see a point. Just got to keep going

You decide how you want to see a situation and move forward

I know I'll walk again