How cost of Brexit nearly lost mum her chance for vital operation

Mother-of-two Jessica Kill, from Streetly, took to crowdfunding earlier this year, as she faced paralysis for life unless she raised £150,000 in 12 weeks to fund brain surgery only available in the United States.

As Jessica battled Cranial Cervical Instability, a condition associated with the genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos she suffers from, Britain was making up its mind on whether or not to leave the European Union.

At the time of the vote, Jessica was nearing her target thanks to generous donations, but the decision made by the public to leave Europe knocked the campaign back.

Thanks to the knock-on effect of the value of the pound against the dollar as a result of the vote to leave the EU, the campaign effectively lost around £17,000.

She was also told that extra surgery would be required as her condition worsened – meaning that an extra £30,000 was going to be needed.

She said: "We foolishly didn't see the Brexit decision going the way it did and that did have an impact on us.

"We still had to book in the operation with the money we had, which was over the £100,000 mark at that point, and hope the rest came."

A new total of £180,000 was eventually reached for the go-ahead and Jessica recently returned from the US and is currently looking to start physiotherapy.

The operation was performed by Dr Paolo Bolognese at South Nassau Hospital in Long Island, New York.

She told of how the days before she flew out to the United States were 'a blur', making sure doctors across the pond had all the right paperwork in place to be able to carry out the operation.

She said: "My condition was deteriorating all the time, I was struggling with pain constantly and could barely move.

"Not long before I flew out, my younger son was really starting to understand what was going on and he asked me what if the operation didn't go as planned.

"That was a difficult moment for me. In the end, I struggled to say goodbye to everyone properly because of a lack of time and just flew out there with my mom and dad."

The appeal raised £181,641 and was backed by 4,000 supporters. She flew to America on August 5 for the procedure, five days later.

Jessica arrived back home to her children Finley, aged eight, and Louis, 16, on September 10 and has since been recovering.

She said: "I am taking each day as it comes now but I want to be back where I was as soon as I can. I will always have Ehlers Danlos but I had always had a quality of life previous to this that I want to get back and will get back.

"I am an anomaly so any physiotherapist taking me on will have a lot of learning to do beforehand."

To those who helped fund her journey and operation, she said: "I want to thank each individual who helped in any way at all, you have given me a future."

Jessica, who works as a project manager for Finning UK in Cannock, has suffered from Ehlers Danlos, which affects the collagen tissues in the body, since her early-20s.

In December 2015 her world was turned upside down by a related condition called Cranial Cervical Instability.

By May this year, the 38-year-old's condition had deteriorated and she was told by doctors that she needed an operation to stop her becoming paralysed.

The campaign, given the name 'Team Jess,' gathered momentum, raising £13,000 in a matter of days after being set up.

She likened managing the process to her job, adding by treating it as work, she could 'take some of the emotion out' of it.

She said: "I just treated it like a project at work and I do think that helped. It took some of the emotion out of it for me and made me feel a little bit removed from it."