North Derbyshire mum's incredible journey from being paralysed from the neck down to running the London Marathon

Katya has a rare disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome which is usually triggered by a virus and starts in the lower limbs causing muscle weakness or paralysis.

She had her first episode in 2009 when she found it hard to balance and had difficulty walking. “It was a very scary time,” said Katya, “but it never progressed beyond my knees.”

So she was aware of the warning signs in January 2023 when she had difficulty standing up at home in Hasland. Katya said: “Very rapidly, my coordination was going and I struggled on the stairs. The next morning when I got out of bed, I collapsed and I hadn’t got the strength to pull myself back onto the bed. Within the next 12 hours it moved up my body, it was in my torso, I couldn’t stand – I was scared.”

Single mum Katya was on her own at the time because her four sons were staying with their dad, so she rang her parents for help. Katya, 44, said: “Late that night, just after midnight I was put in the high dependency unit at Chesterfield Royal Hospital where they said if your oxygen goes below 60 percent, you’ll have to go on a ventilator. My oxygen went down to 30% and the next thing I remember is waking at the Hallamashire Hospital where I was put in an induced coma for a week.

"With Guillain-Barre Syndrome your antibodies make a mistake and they start attacking your nerves and killing them off. While I was asleep, my system was flushed with healthy antibodies. That didn’t work so they started me on plasma exchange where blood is taken out of the body, goes into a machine and all the bad plasma is flushed out and donated plasma put in – it’s a bit like dialysis."

Katya was given a tracheostomy and put on a ventilator for five weeks. She said: “It was horrible and I had a lot of nerve pain. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk, the only way I could communicate was by making a clicking noise at the top of my mouth. When I finally got my voice back it was very weak. I’m a singer and a teacher and both jobs require me to project my voice. I felt everything had been ripped away from me."I had an amazing physio called Luke Saunders who knew that I liked being fit, going out running and doing aerobics. He encouraged me to use a bed bike where the pedals would move for me so it would move my legs and after a few days my hips wriggled a bit. When I got a bit of power to push the pedals myself, I set myself a challenge – I’m going to add a mile every day. I honestly believe that if I’d not gone on the bike it would have been a very different story.”

Katya was transferred to a neurological ward and later to a rehab centre where she learned how to walk on crutches.

She said: “The consultants at the Hallamshire said they had never seen anyone get so ill as me as quickly as I did but they had also never seen anyone get as better as quickly as I did. When I was in an induced coma they were telling my family that they didn’t think I was going to get any better and that I would be paralysed forever.”

Throughout her stay in hospital, Katya’s sons James, Harley, Luka and Antonio kept their mum’s spirits up by singing and playing guitar to her.

Katya was discharged seven weeks after she was admitted and had her first neuro physio appointment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital three months later. At the Royal she was cared for by physio Amber Sheridan and a colleague called Alan. Katya said: “Amber gave me some foot up splints which changed things so much. I walked into the department on crutches and I left without them. They knew I was a runner and they said that they’d get me running again. They said that I needed to shock my nerves into doing something that the body wasn’t expecting. I started running ten steps or so between lamp-posts, then 10 metres and built up from there.

"In September I did my first 5k at a park run in Hastings where my uncle lives. I did my first 10k in London in December. I started proper London Marathon training in January. The longest run I did before the marathon was 21 miles, from Hastings to Eastbourne.”

Katya had planned to do the London Marathon last year but was forced to defer her place because of her health issues. She wasn’t even sure that she would be fit enough for the challenge this year so didn’t ask for donations for Sheffield Hospital Charity until five days before the event. By the time the big day arrived, she had raised more than £1,000.

Katya ran the entire marathon in six hours and six minutes. She said: “I didn’t stop once and I didn’t walk either. I’m so proud of it especially when I was told that it would three or four years before I got any better. My legs are aching and my ankles are aching a lot because my ankles are weak.”

She was back at work the following day, teaching pupils at Hasland Junior School. Katya said: “I love my job and appreciate it more when I couldn’t be there for six months last year.

"I see life completely differently now – I’m grateful for everything. Every time I go outside I’m so grateful to feel the wind on my face; when I was in a hospital bed all I wanted was to be outside. I’ve tried to eliminate stress as well. I want to be happy all the time and live life.”

Katya is still seeking sponsorship for Sheffield Hospital Charity and in particular the neuro ICU unit at Hallamshire Hospital. Go to https://2024tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/katya-zafiris-2de67-gbswarrior