Doctors baffled after woman left in total agony fearing she'd never walk again
One woman woke up in agony, and was left terrified she’d never walk again, but doctors had no answers for her mystery ailment.
Sophia Moore had been walking around a shopping centre with her mum, trying on clothes one day when she was younger, and the next she was unable to walk. She was rushed to hospital after she was left lying in bed with a horrific pain in her left hip.
The musical theatre performer and dancer had nine surgeries in an attempt to solve the mysterious issue plaguing her. But the sudden loss of movement remains a mystery and she can’t use her legs as normal to this day.
Sophia underwent nine surgeries as medics tried to figure out what was affecting her (Jam Press/Sophia Moore)
Sophia is now hoping to become a West End performer (Jam Press/Sophia Moore)The 23-year-old from Chelmsford, told NeedToKnow.co.uk: “It was incredibly sudden – the day before I had been walking around a shopping centre with mum, trying on clothes and everything had seemed perfectly fine. I had had incidents in the past where I had some sort of injury where the onset of pain was quite sudden and it had always passed quite quickly, so at first I wasn’t too worried.
“When it didn’t pass after a few days, Mum took me to a physio, I was 13 at the time. He was very worried and sent me straight to A&E. At this time I think my mum was a lot more worried than I was, I just assumed that my mum would be able to get me fixed like she always had. Over the next few weeks, doctors at my local hospital tried to find the problem, though it was an endless battle for my mum. No one seemed to have any answers.”
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Suffering from unexplained joint pain, dizziness and fatigue since the age of seven, Sophia had previously been diagnosed with hypermobility, a condition where her joints are too flexible and loose.
She is now studying a musical theatre degree at Performance Preparation Academy (Jam Press/Sophia Moore)In September 2013, the doctors decided to perform arthroscopy on her hip, a keyhole surgery used to investigate joints and treat minor damage. Following two more arthroscopies, Sophia was diagnosed with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that affects the connective tissue in her body. But the cause of the loss of mobility is still unknown.
She said: “No one knows why this is the case – they are still investigating my symptoms at University College London Hospital, including in the Institute for Dance and Sports Medicine, where they are trying to find the source of my pain and so try and find a way to help reduce the pain levels for me. My hip problems are almost certainly linked to my JHS, but to what extent no one knows, and they probably never will.”
Having to put her dreams of dancing on hold until she was able to walk, Sophia felt like she was missing out on life, each new procedure setting her back months and putting her on crutches again.
She said: “In between the various procedures I have had periods when I was able to walk and dance, but also periods when I was in constant pain and unable to walk except with crutches. During the period from April 2013 until October 2020, I only danced when I was able-bodied.
“When I was unable to walk, I stopped dancing, found life very hard and often became withdrawn and depressed. When I had the first operation in September 2013 it made things better and I could walk and dance again. But things regularly went wrong with my hips – only once with my right hip, but regularly with my left one. Each time I went back on crutches I stopped dancing – and my dream got further and further away from me.”
Following six arthroscopies in total, Sophia then received pins in her left hip for a year, before it was entirely replaced in the hope of improving mobility and reducing pain.
“The NHS has been great to me, supporting me throughout,” she commented. "They are constantly trying to find answers and never given up trying to help me.”
Sophia added: “It was around this time that I began to dance on crutches. Instead of not dancing when I was unable to walk, I turned that on its head and worked out how I could still dance. So, in October 2020, I made a decision that I would try auditioning for dance/drama college again but this time as a disabled performer. I was enthusiastic, resilient and determined by this point. I have been through a range of emotions over the last 10 years of my life.”
Despite everything, she has continued to dance when she can, using crutches from Cool Crutches & Sticks to aid her, matching any costume she wears. Now, two years later, Sophia is in her third year of a musical theatre degree at Performance Preparation Academy. She hopes to become one of the West End’s first disabled musical theatre performers.
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