• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Firefighter left unable to recognise herself after ‘stress’ left her face paralysed in rare condition

Home> News> UK News

Published 11:20 18 Sep 2024 GMT+1

Firefighter left unable to recognise herself after ‘stress’ left her face paralysed in rare condition

The Suffolk firefighter recalled the moment her face started to look 'droopy'

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

A firefighter has been left struggling to recognise herself after stress left her face paralysed from a rare health condition.

Emma Hawkins from Suffolk, UK, first noticed something was wrong after working a late shift on 9 June.

The 35-year-old woke up to take a sip of water around 3pm and struggled to drink properly.

Advert

After taking a look in the bathroom mirror, Emma was stunned to see how 'droopy' her face was and thought she was having a stroke.

She called 111 and an ambulance was sent to her home in Brantham.

"At first it was just my mouth and then I went down to see my fiancé and kind of made a joke out of it saying I think I was having a stroke," Emma said.

"He went grey and said I think we need to get you to A&E. I rang 111 instead and they said they were going to send an ambulance right away.

Advert

"I have kind of grown up with a dark humour so I tried to laugh it off. The enormity of it was not breaking through."

Doctors initially gave her a false diagnosis of Bell's Palsy, but as symptoms worsened over the next four weeks, they confirmed that she had Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS), brought on by stress.

Emma was told that the condition was, in part, caused by stress (Kennedy News and Media)
Emma was told that the condition was, in part, caused by stress (Kennedy News and Media)

The rare neurological disorder causes facial nerve weakness or paralysis, a ringing of the ears, and hearing loss.

You might recall pop star Justin Bieber suffering from the health condition in 2022.

Advert

It took him nine months to recover and get his smile back.

"I had been working a lot and burning the candle from both ends a little bit," Emma admitted.

"They don't really know why a person develops Bell's Palsy, but RHS is more brought on by the shingles or chickenpox virus.

"They believe that after I had chickenpox the virus planted itself in my ear canal and has been lying dormant in there [since I was a child].

"I had a lot of personal stress and they think that where I have been run down the shingles develop in my ear canal which has caused inflammation and crushed my nerves."

Advert

Emma is now on medication (Kennedy News and Media)
Emma is now on medication (Kennedy News and Media)

Emma was prescribed with an antivirus medication and has been put on the waiting list for nerve transfer surgery.

Emma said: "I've been living with my symptoms for three months now. Physically I look completely different.

"I am quite a bubbly and smiley person and now I can only smile on one side of my face.

"Because of the imbalance in my ear and one of them not working properly and neither is my eye I get a lot of dizziness.

Advert

"I'm quite an active person and I work for the fire service but I can't work at the moment.

"It's dramatically changed my life. I can't do the things I want to do.

"It's sad when I look in the mirror and don't recognise the person looking back at me.

Emma doesn't recognise her old self anymore (Kennedy News and Media)
Emma doesn't recognise her old self anymore (Kennedy News and Media)

"Some days are easier than others. If I feel upset, I just want to stay in the house. Other days I'll force myself to get up and out.

"It's frustrating and difficult and I just want my life back and my face back."

As well as waiting for treatment, Emma is now focused on raising awareness of RHS and has urged others to take the appropriate medication straight away.

She added: "With the recovery of the nervous system it is a really long, slow and unknown process.

"They said rest and as little stress as possible can help. If my face does come back it's because I'm relaxed and resting.

"It's one of those conditions where there is so little known about it and everyone is different."

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media

Topics: UK News, Health

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

X

@Anish_Vij

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

10 hours ago
11 hours ago
12 hours ago
13 hours ago
  • 10 hours ago

    How long it takes brain to return to normal dopamine levels after substance abuse

    Alcohol and drugs can do serious damage to your brain but how long does it take for the organ's dopamine levels to return to normal?

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Aviation experts identify potential cause of Air India crash that crashed with 242 on board

    An investigation into the crash is currently underway

    News
  • 12 hours ago

    Medical report claims Brit mum whose 'heart went missing' after mysterious death died from food poisoning

    The mum-of-two died while on a family holiday in Turkey

    News
  • 13 hours ago

    Diddy's son could be thrown out of court over T-shirt he wore to trial

    People aren't meant to wear clothes with slogans on them in court

    News
  • People left terrified of sneezing after simulation showed shocking moment woman was paralysed
  • Woman who dismissed twitching eye as ‘college stress’ left unable to smile after finding out devastating diagnosis
  • Mum 'blamed herself' after being told 'son will age backwards and become baby-like' due to rare condition
  • Woman left unable to close eyes from 'horror surgery' after wanting face to look like 'Snapchat filter'