A MATHS teacher who was left paralysed from the neck down because of an undiscovered abscess has said she misses teaching and wants to return to work.

Kath Keirle, a teacher of maths at Penglais School since 2002, has described the moment of realisation when she discovered she was paralysed after an abscess on her neck caused significant damage to her vertebrae and spinal cord just before Christmas 2014.

“One day while teaching I felt my neck was getting stiff, and I thought ‘what’s that all about?’, said Mrs Keirle, who lives in Borth with her husband Ian.

“I went to the GP because I was getting a lot of pain and I was told it was just a pulled muscle. For nine days I was in and out of fever, I wasn’t eating and I lost 16 pounds in weight.

“It was a very strange feeling, it was like I wasn’t here. And then one evening, I couldn’t get out of my chair — that was pretty scary.”

After Ian called an ambulance, doctors soon discovered that Mrs Keirle’s whole spine was infected by the abscess and she was rushed to the University Hospital of Wales in the Heath, Cardiff, where consultant spinal surgeon Dr Michael McCarthy was waiting, having postponed his holiday to operate on Mrs Keirle.

“I was transferred in an ambulance with the chief anaesthetist because I was paralysed and the next thing to go was my breathing,” said Mrs Keirle, who enjoyed mountain walking, scuba diving and rowing before her illness.

“I spent the next two months in a hospital bed on my back looking at the ceiling.”

But Mrs Keirle, who has since recovered movement to her upper body and has areas of feeling in her feet and legs, said she didn’t want to be labelled ‘brave’ or ‘courageous’, and just wanted to get her life “back to normal”.

And Mrs Keirle wanted to express her heartfelt thanks to Aberystwyth Round Table and the Aspire charity for helping to fund the purchase of a trike, which she hopes will help her build strength in her legs.

“I’m taking it one step at a time, but I hope to go back if the council are able to make adjustments,” added Mrs Keirle, when asked whether she wanted to return to work.

“I want to be back at work, I’ve had five terms out. I have had an access to work assessment and I will wait to see what reasonable adjustments the council is willing to make.”

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