Rachel Foulkes-Davies, 43, still suffers with brain fog and constant headaches – and has to wear sunglasses to watch the TV after being bitten by a tick (Picture: SWNS)

A mother was left paralysed, unable to speak and was forced to eat through a straw all because she was bitten by a tick.

Rachel Foulkes-Davies, 43, was bitten on her neck while she was sat in her garden in June 2015 but thought nothing of it until her lip turned numb and her face started to droop on one side.

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She was sent home from hospital with a course of prednisolone – a steroid medication – after doctors diagnosed her with Bell’s Palsy.

But she failed to recover and instead her condition got slowly worse over seven agonising months until she was unable to eat or speak.




The mum-of-three, who has since been diagnosed with Lyme Disease, says she is now frightened to go out in the garden in case it happens again.

Rachel lost the ability to speak for almost two years (Picture: SWNS)

The former day care coordinator from Denbighshire in North Wales, said: ‘I’m now frightened to go out in my garden.

‘The facial paralysis started with my lip going numb a few days after the bite.

‘My kids didn’t realise the severity of it and would try and make me say words like “bumblebee” but I just couldn’t.

‘Then over the course of seven to eight months my ability to speak worsened.’

Rachel had to wear an eye patch and was unable to feel a twitch in her eye for six months.

She eventually regained her speech but still suffers with brain fog and constant headaches and has to wear sunglasses to watch TV.

‘I couldn’t talk for two years I was just living off a soups and stews and had to have them through a straw. The same went for hot drinks,’ she said.

She has since been diagnosed with Lyme Disease, was unable to feel a twitch in her eye for six months and had to wear an eye patch (Picture: SWNS)

When she began losing the feeling in her face and couldn’t close her eye properly she went to Deeside Hospital and was given an eye patch and sent home within hours.

But her ability to speak got worse and she was forced to lift up the left side of her mouth in order to communicate.

Rachel also had to pureee her food and was forced to eat through a straw as chewing would lead to her biting the side of her mouth, causing it to bleed.

For nearly three years Rachel has suffered from chronic fatigue and depression while struggling to look after kids Jessica, 19, Callum, 12 and Cieran, 8.

She eventually gave up work in December 2017.

‘I’m constantly tired and have no energy to do simple tasks,’ she said.

She suffered the bite in June 2015 and originally thought nothing of it (Picture: SWNS)

‘My face still droops when I’m tired or even if I can manage a wine and my eye twitches and squashes in when I eat. I’m very self-conscious.

‘It’s like having the worst hangover in the world as all you want to do is lie down.



‘I would collapse on the sofa after work having looked after dementia patients for eight and a half hours without a break. I was drained.’

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