DETERMINED 21-year-old Bella is paralyzed from the waist down - but she is on a mission to walk again. Six years ago, Bella was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome - a rare heart condition that caused her heart rate to skyrocket to "225 [bpm] laying down". An episode on board an airplane when she was 18 saw Bella lose consciousness and when she woke up she was receiving CPR from the cabin crew at the back of the plane. After being rushed to hospital, Bella learned she needed urgent heart surgery and was taken straight to theater. As she came around after surgery, she was told that she had been cured - Bella no longer had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. However, her "legs were in excruciating pain" and she knew something was wrong. Three days later, she was paralyzed from the waist down, having suffered an unforeseen allergic reaction to the anaesthesia during surgery, which caused her "brain to disconnect with the pathways" in her legs. When doctors told her the news, Bella remembers how she "didn't want to believe it" - she told Truly: "I was going in to get something fixed and I come out and I've lost so much". Bella left hospital with doctors' expectations that she would "never walk again" ringing in her ears - but disbelief soon turned to defiance, lighting a fire within her that still burns strong years later: "I'm going to prove them wrong. I know I will walk again". Months of rehabilitation at a specialist "paralysis gym" saw Bella make progress with the help of an exoskeleton that allowed her to take steps again for the first time - something she describes as the "best feeling in the world". But now having moved away from the gym, Bella no longer has access to such cutting-edge equipment, so she has installed her own DIY rehabilitation gym in the corner of her living room, consisting of a walker with a crossbar to hold her legs straight as she hauls herself into a standing position. Pushing herself one step further each day has now become Bella's routine, aiming to stand for longer each time - with her current record set at four minutes. So with her friend Enrique coming over to hold the stopwatch and support Bella from the sidelines, will she be able to smash her own record and hit a new personal best time of 5 minutes? And will anything stop her defying all the odds and walking again in the future?
Follow Bella:
https://www.instagram.com/bellawillwalkagain
https://www.tiktok.com/@bellawillwalkagain
https://www.youtube.com/@bellawillwalkagain
Credits:
Videographer: Howard Shack
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Video Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Perrin Cimener
Editor: Helen McKee
Follow Bella:
https://www.instagram.com/bellawillwalkagain
https://www.tiktok.com/@bellawillwalkagain
https://www.youtube.com/@bellawillwalkagain
Credits:
Videographer: Howard Shack
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Video Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Perrin Cimener
Editor: Helen McKee
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00I was cured and paralyzed by the same surgery because I had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia.
00:05At first, I didn't want to believe it.
00:08It was like, there's no way this could be happening.
00:10I was going in to get something fixed, and I come out, and I've lost so much.
00:18Doctors told me I would never walk again, but I know I'm going to prove them wrong.
00:22Today, my friend Enrique is coming over, and I'm going to try and break my record for standing time.
00:27I'm nervous to see what I can do, but this is the next step towards walking again.
00:31Three, two, one.
00:40This is my formula.
00:42I have this condition called gastroparesis, which makes me unable to really digest food.
00:47So this is a feeding tube, and the tube goes into my small intestine.
00:51And because I was paralyzed before getting diagnosed with this, I was already, like, more used to that routine.
00:59And so this has just been added on to it.
01:04I wake up an hour earlier now just with all my other medical stuff, too.
01:08Tell us a little about the heart symptoms you started experiencing when you were younger.
01:15When I was 15, my heart rate got to 225 laying down, and my whole body was just feeling so weird.
01:24They did an EKG, and they found something wrong with my heart and diagnosed me with Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
01:30So it was basically an issue with, like, the electrical system in your heart.
01:34It's episodes of really rapid heart rate, and a normal heart beats like this, and mine was beating like this,
01:42and, like, kind of, like, all over the place.
01:44A few years after my diagnosis, I was going back to boarding school, and I really wasn't feeling good,
01:50and I knew an episode was coming.
01:52I woke up in the back of the airplane getting CPR and oxygen.
01:57I was terrified.
01:59I was rushed to the hospital, and I just remember, like, the beeping was nonstop.
02:05The surgery I had, what they did was they had, like, wires, and they went in through my neck and, like, my groin.
02:12I had, like, an extra pathway in my heart, and they kind of just, like, got rid of it.
02:17The surgery cured my heart.
02:19I don't have Wolf-Parkinson-White anymore.
02:22When I woke up from surgery, I realized something was wrong.
02:26My legs were in excruciating pain, and within the span of three days, I was paralyzed from the waist down.
02:34Basically, what happened while I was in surgery, I had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia,
02:40and it caused my brain to disconnect with the pathways in my legs.
02:46I think hearing that news at first, I didn't want to believe it.
02:49I was like, there's no way this could be happening.
02:53I was going in to get something fixed, and I come out, and I've lost so much.
03:00I can't move my legs.
03:01I'm in pain 24-7.
03:03And I think hearing that was just, like, I'm not going to let that happen.
03:10I'm going to walk again.
03:11So, this is my standing frame.
03:18I use this every day, and basically, this gets me into a standing position.
03:24So, I started going to this paralysis gym, and they have machines there, and one was called
03:31an exoskeleton, and with the exoskeleton, it's basically this, like, robot that kind
03:37of, like, walks for you.
03:39Here are some videos of me in the exoskeleton machine.
03:44Once I had more core strength, I was able to start using that, and honestly, it was the
03:49best feeling in the world.
03:50I wasn't doing it on my own, and the machine was doing it, but I was still getting that
03:54walking movement.
03:55So, I started this GoFundMe to help me get the tools I need to walk again and support
04:01myself.
04:02I'm going to be using the money for an exoskeleton and then hand controls for a car.
04:06The exoskeleton is so important because that gets my legs in the walking motion.
04:11Some say, with that, that I'll be walking, and then others have just said, you're not
04:14going to walk again.
04:15When they said that, I was like, that's not true.
04:19I know I'm going to walk again.
04:20I know I can do this, and I'm going to prove them wrong.
04:24Let's do some standing.
04:26I was like, you know what?
04:28I'm going to just start standing and maybe post some videos about it and see where it
04:32goes, and then I started getting views on it and encouragement, and that really helped
04:36me a lot.
04:37I put a lot of energy into my social media accounts.
04:40I post a lot on there on my recovery and journey and walking again.
04:44When I was at the gym, they had this walker with actually a piece of wood that blocked,
04:49so I was able to use it, and I was like, oh my gosh, I want to make my own and work on
04:54standing.
04:55I do like daily kind of things on my Instagram.
04:59I just kind of see how long I can to go.
05:01My friend Enrique is coming over, and I'm going to try and break my record for standing
05:05time.
05:06Hi.
05:07How have you been?
05:08I'm good.
05:08How are you?
05:09Good.
05:09Good.
05:11Just been, yeah, going all over the place.
05:15Been in Seattle for a few days.
05:16So I'm trying to set a new standing record.
05:20Would you be down to film it?
05:21Yeah, of course.
05:22We can definitely give it a go.
05:23My current record is four minutes.
05:25I am hoping to break it and do five minutes.
05:28I think it will be challenging, but I think I'll be able to do it.
05:34All right, let me know when you're ready.
05:35I'm ready.
05:36Three, two, one.
05:41All right, and we're up.
05:43I met Enrique through Instagram.
05:45He slid into my DMs and was like, hey, I'm also from Washington.
05:50I was like, oh my gosh.
05:51And yeah, we started talking.
05:53All right, we're at 25 seconds.
05:56I saw she was playing for the Kraken sled hockey team, and I thought that was super cool
06:00and interesting, and I went to a few practices with her, and we've just kind of been friends
06:06since.
06:06We are coming up on the two-minute mark.
06:09Just kind of seeing the strength that she has to keep pushing forward and just live
06:15her life, regardless of any situation that's been thrown at her, definitely is inspiring.
06:21You're doing so good, Bella.
06:22Three, two, one, five minutes.
06:30Oh my gosh.
06:32Oh my gosh.
06:33Today, Bella set out to break her record with standing.
06:38She absolutely crushed it.
06:40How does that make you feel?
06:41Tired.
06:41Tired.
06:42Very tired.
06:43I can't believe I did it, and I'm very proud of myself.
06:46There's nothing holding her back from walking again.
06:51It's okay.
06:52Oh, yes.
06:55Come on, sugar.
06:56Let's go.
06:57For so long, I had such black and white thinking and just like, oh, I'm never going to get better.
07:03And then I was like, I only get this life once.
07:06Why do I want to live it?
07:07Just thinking like, I'm never going to walk again when I could get up and try.
07:12Three years ago, if I saw where I was today, I would not believe it.
07:17I have come so far.
07:20I did not think I would be able to stand five minutes on my walker.
07:24Bella's done an amazing job overcoming just every circumstance life has thrown at her.
07:29She finds a way to make it work, and I look forward to seeing the progress she makes going forward.
07:37If 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.
07:46You only get this life once, and it's precious.
07:50It may seem like times are so hard, and you just want to give up, and you don't see a point.
07:55You just got to keep going.
07:56You decide how you want to see a situation and move forward.
08:01I know I'll walk again.
08:07I know I'll walk again.