Derry woman who lost sight and speech due to FND has been ‘given hope’

Nicole McDermott (28) was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) almost five years ago.

Last month, her husband Ciaran, from Burt, told how Nicole suffers up to 10 seizures a day, has lost her sight, has limited speech, experiences absences, tremors, is in chronic pain and is now a wheelchair user. You can read that here.

A fundraising campaign was set up to pay for the cost of treatment at Brain and Mind in London, which specialises in Neurological Neurology,Neuropsychiatry and Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Therapies. Professor Mark Edwards, a neurologist who specialises in FND, agreed to assess Nicole in his clinic in London privately.

Nicole and Ciaran recently travelled to London, where Professor Edwards and his team described Nicole’s case of FND as the ‘worst they had ever seen.’

However, Ciaran told the Journal that the Professor said it will take a ‘lot of work,’ but he is ‘hopeful of giving Nicole some quality of life.’ “Hearing that has given Nicole hope. She’s a lot more content now that someone is helping her and knows about what she has been going through.”

The cost of the intense treatment, which will include rehabilitation with various teams, is as yet unknown and Professor Edwards will contact Nicole with a treatment plan in the near future. Nicole’s family is still raising money and a number of events have taken place. You can still donate to the Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/nicole-mc-dermott