A FAMILY has put out a plea to help their sister live life to the full.

Bridie Nilsen-Borrell was just 14 when she fell ill with what first seemed to be persistent flu. After collapsing during a blood test, she came round on a teenage cancer ward, and then came shocking news: Bridie had leukaemia.

Older brother Paul of Menheniot takes up the story.

“The diagnosis turned our world upside down. Bridie spent almost a month in the ward, undergoing chemotherapy and receiving blood products. Our family traveled to London daily from our home in Kent, with our mum staying by her side the entire time.

“Once she could return home, her life revolved around her hospital appointments and regular chemotherapy. A few months later, we received the worst news: her disease hadn't responded to the treatment, and a bone marrow transplant was her only chance of survival. She was admitted to The Royal Marsden in Surrey for the transplant, undergoing intense pre-transplant conditioning with high-dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy to eliminate her bone marrow.

“Bridie was placed in protective isolation for a month and no family or friends were allowed to visit her because of the infection risk. We all celebrated the day she came home, although she was still very fragile.

“Over the following year, although technically cured of leukaemia, she faced severe side effects from graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) - which is where your body has a bit of a battle with the donated bone marrow. She caught frequent infections needing hospital admissions, she suffered weight loss so severe she had to have intravenous nutrition at home which she set up herself each night, and painful skin deterioration.

“Bridie went on to endure life-threatening complications, including sepsis and a superinfection of her lungs where she stayed in the paediatric intensive care unit for nearly three months. We were all told at this time that this might be the end. But as miracles go, she recovered with the knowledge and skills of all the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists that treated her - this is something that inspired Bridie to become a children's critical care nurse herself.

“Bridie came home from the intensive care unit the day before her 16th birthday and we celebrated her birthday at home, together. She was a frail shell of her former self but put a lot of time into rehab and recovery.

“By early 2007, she was regaining her life but soon faced another setback. The life-saving treatments (predominantly the high doses of steroids she had been given) had caused her bones to deteriorate, resulting in avascular necrosis in her ankle, knee, hip, and spine - a painful bone disease caused by a disruption of blood flow to the bones and joints.”

Bridie was determined to persue her studies. Illness had forced her to leave school at 14 with no GCSEs, but she went to night school to catch up, going on to study health and social care at college. During this time Bridie’s avascular necrosis progressed, leading to surgeries and ultimately to a chronically painful and deformed leg.

But despite many setbacks, Bridie graduated with a degree in paediatric nursing in 2014.

She had been driven to succeed by remembering the care shown her by medical staff.

“There were some brilliant nurses in the intensive care unit. I wasn’t allowed to have my parents stay with me so I was going to sleep by myself. Having a vibrant nurse tell me a funny story and take such care with me was inspiring. One, Kylie, was a real role model. She was so caring and such a laugh. She would even send me a postcard when she went on holiday.”

Bridie explains that as a teenager, experiencing severe illness set her apart from her friends.

“At the time I felt far apart from my peers. It took a lot of the fun out of me. All the things like getting spots, having a boyfriend, were miles away.

“But now it’s levelled out a bit. Everybody has a struggle of their own to face in life.”

While at univerity in Devon, Bridie had met Tommy, who shared her passion for the outdoors and her love for the beaches and moorland of the South West. After a few years working in a children’s intensive care unit in London, Bridie moved to Cornwall with Tommy and the pair began their new life together in Menheniot, bringing their daughter Mary into the world in 2020.

As a sister on a children’s high dependency unit, Bridie had her dream job, and was living with her young family in the place she had fallen in love with.

But not long after Mary’s birth, Bridie’s condition deteriorated, and she began to experience debilitating pain in her leg and ankle, which further surgery only made worse.

Now 33, Bridie is unable to do the things that most of us take for granted – things like playing with Mary at the park or walking on the beach with the dog have sadly become impossible. At work, she has been restricted to office duties for the past year and a half.

Surgeons told Bridie some time ago that her best option was a below the knee amputation: she’s been on the NHS waiting list since July 2023.

Recently, Bridie and her family discovered the possibility of having a specialist amputation with Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR). This complex nerve surgery, currently unavailable on our national health care system, is performed at the time of amputation. Rather than severing the nerves, surgeons meticulously ‘re-route’ and transplant them into target muscles in the upper leg, which tricks the brain into thinking that the lower leg and foot are still there. The aim is to reduce or eliminate the awful phantom limb pain and neuroma pain that most amputees experience.

TMR is routinely available in other countries but here, comes at a cost of £34,100.

Bridie’s family have begun a crowdfunding appeal to pay for the surgery along with rehabilitation equipment and home adaptions such as a wheelchair and a stairlift for her home while she recovers.

Paul explains: “My sister has spent nearly 20 years in chronic bone pain and wants to take the option that will leave her with the highest chance of a pain-free and functional outcome so she can enjoy life with her family - normal everyday life which a lot of us take for granted.”

Bridie comments: “Paul has been the driving force behind this. I’m quite a private person really. It’s hard to ask for money – I am not doing this to skip the waiting list, but it’s for a specific surgery that I am unable to get.”

The team carrying out the pioneering procedure are training other surgeons, and it’s hoped that in time this kind of surgery will be the standard here on the NHS.

Bridie and her family love Menheniot and its community: Mary is at the pre-school and will start at the village primary in September.

“We love the outdoors and it’s one of the reasons I’m keen to have this surgery that’s going to leave me fully mobile. The countryside has all been off-limits in the last few years.”

To support the appeal visit www.gofundme.com/f/bridie-with-her-new-leg-amputation