Connor Edwards, 30
A young man shared the painful ordeal he faced after a tick bite he suffered on a mountain bike that left his life out of control.
Connor Edwards’ condition has worsened to the point where he said: “I was actually shaking/wheelchair and I fell off my head.
Desperately looking for a solution, Connor of Cannock, Staffordshire, 30, is now seeking support to fund critical actions. If this effort fails, he may consider visiting Denitas, Switzerland, to end his pain permanently.
Below, we explore how the daily cycling trip five years ago greatly changed Connor’s trajectory.
Bite
Once a typical 25-year-old stayed overnight with a friend and worked as a life insurance salesman, Connor’s encounter with depression prompted him to embrace mountain bikes on Cannock Chase several times a week to improve his physical and mental health.
When reflecting on this fateful event, he recalled Mirror: “Once I got home, there was itch on my right butt cheek, and I didn’t expect anything, but it really hurt the next day, so I checked it and my tick bug was embedded in me.
“I didn’t expect anything, I just pulled it out… For the next six to eight months, everything hit the fans.”
Symptoms and diagnosis
Connor’s health makes the nose tingling, the burning feeling on his hands and feet mark the onset of diagnosed ehlers-danlos syndrome (EDS) – a disease that affects the connective tissue throughout the body.
But the condition escalated, not only showing serious symptoms, such as a mental attack, but also physical problems with his wrists and knees that failed him. His spinal fissure prompted medical advice to see a physical therapist, although Connor believes the severity is underestimated.
Health problems exacerbate extreme fatigue and shocking signs such as bleeding. Connor remembers one morning describing a shocking experience: “It got worse and worse, and then one day I woke up with a very sore neck.
“But the next day I woke up and I really couldn’t do it, I mean, I couldn’t even raise my head. My head felt like a bowling ball, that was a heavy person.
“As time went by, my head became so loose that it slipped around the top of my neck, all other joints became looser and more, all other symptoms became worse and worse, and I lost more and more quality of life until I was completely bedridden.”
Connor seeks answers besides Eds, two years ago Connor’s pursuit of clarity led him to a professional clinic in Germany where he made amazing discoveries – he was seriously troubled by Lyme disease, a bacterial infection conveyed by infected tick worms.
Connor explained that his previous psychotic attacks, he felt disconnected from reality and that his surroundings seemed fantastic, could be the result of Lyme disease affecting his brain.
Connor’s condition worsened by the diagnosis of Cranio’s cervical instability (CCI), a complication of his ED, which leads to joint instability connecting his skull and cervical spine.
Connor describes his current daily life, “The bed, the toilet, the bed, is on my phone all day. It’s too dim. The windows are closed, the curtains are closed because I can’t stand the light. The ears are getting smaller and smaller.
Last hope
Connor’s final hope is to raise £100,000 for foreign surgery to alleviate the compression of the brainstem caused by its unstable skull. “My head and my neck are loose where they are connected, and when they are loose, the middle brain stems will irritate, piercing and squeezing violently,” he explained.
The proposed surgery is a cranione-neck fusion that will use rods and rods to stabilize his head and neck. Connor fights tears and discusses the terrible consequences of not raising enough money for this life-changing action.
“If I don’t have surgery, I could end up dead,” he said. “Lyme disease is attacking my body. It is destroying my body, my immune system and my nervous system.
“Not only that, Canio’s cervical instability is progressive, my head is getting looser and looser. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m trying to save my life.
“The NHS didn’t treat me, they didn’t treat CCI, they barely knew what it was.”
World-renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Vicenc Gilete described Connor’s condition as the “most serious” he encountered. Although the cost of surgery and travel is £85,000, he also recommends additional funds, totaling £15,000, to help manage Lyme disease.
To learn more about surgery or donations, go to Conner GoFundMe page
