Muscle Paralysis Couldn’t Stop This Woman from Being the Best Mom She Can Be

Life

Canadian woman Holly Gerlach was 26 when she gave birth to Baby Casey. It was easily the greatest experience in Holly’s life – she had been dreaming about becoming a mom ever since she herself was just a little girl. But the celebration of Baby Casey’s entrance into life was abruptly cut short as Holly was soon diagnosed with GBS – also known as Guillain–Barré syndrome.

GBS is a peripheral nervous system disease that ultimately leads to rapid-onset muscle weakness and paralysis. Weeks after giving birth, Holly started feeling unexplained pains in her neck along with severe weakness in her legs. When she arrived at the hospital, she quickly became paralyzed from the neck down, leaving her unable to move and even breath without hospital assistance. The diagnosis meant that she had to be admitted into the hospital’s ICU.

But even this harrowing experience couldn’t shake off Holly’s love and devotion for Baby Casey. Where other moms might spiral into depression, Holly used the fact that she still had to take care of her baby as a conduit for recovering full use of her muscles.

Even as she was hooked up to a respirator and could only muster whispering “I’m in so much pain” to a nearby nurse, Holly insisted on spending time with Baby Casey at least once per day.

Even as Holly’s heart broke because she couldn’t fully be there for her daughter, she did everything she could, including using a board to communicate, miming her words to caregivers and family, and using a lift to get out of bed – all to be the best mom she could be given the circumstances.

Finally, after weeks of relying on the help of others and using a special valve just to breathe, Holly was suddenly able to breathe on her own; soon after, she was better able to control the actions of her hands. It was at this time that the paralysis began to fade. After 87 painful, harrowing days of physical therapy, Holly got up on her own for the first time since the diagnosis.