Wife paralysed after hitting head on toilet in freak bathroom fall

A former nurse has tragically been left paralysed after hitting her head on a toilet in a freak fall at home.

Marie Ogilvie, 54, cannot move her arms, hands, and legs and is unable to breathe for herself after the accident.

The 54-year-old had gone to the bathroom at around 10.30pm after complaining of feeling unwell to her husband Jim.

Jim heard a thud and rushed to find his wife of more than 30 years on the floor, bleeding from the nose.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Jim said: "When I first saw her lying on the bathroom floor, I thought she was a goner.

"I tried to stem the flow of the blood but I was panicking. She started to come around and told me to ring an ambulance.

"She remembers sitting on the toilet, leaning on the water basin, and then she must have fallen off the seat and banged her head.

"While we were waiting for an ambulance, she became aware she couldn't move. She was just so helpless."

Marie, from Perth, Scotland, was unable to breathe by herself and spent six weeks on a ventilator after the accident on August 14.

The wife was fitted with a tracheostomy tube and had spinal surgery to stabilise the damage to her neck at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

The next day, Marie was blue-lighted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital's spinal injury unit in Glasgow to receive specialist care.

Doctors then told Marie and Jim that she is tetraplegic, which means she is unable to voluntarily move her arms, hands and legs.

"Marie was able to speak for the first time last week. I was in tears at the side of her bed after not hearing her voice for what felt so long," Jim said.

"I've been by her side the whole time, and it's costing a fortune living in a hotel for all this time but I want to be here every step of the journey."

Marie medically retired from the NHS seven years ago after mobility problems and joint pain made it difficult for her to walk.

In 2017, she was diagnosed with a narrowing of the spinal cord in her neck. The condition means impact to the area could cause paralysis - but surgery was deemed too risky.

Jim continued: "She had to be extremely careful. No sudden jolts, sometimes she would tell me to slow down when I was driving, in case it damaged her neck.

"If she was feeling unwell, I would typically bring a basin to her but she seemed happy taking herself to the bathroom that night."

Marie is now receiving intense physio therapy and electrode stimulation at the Spinal Unit's rehabilitation centre. There has been little sign of progress for Marie, except a tingling sensation in her hands when her husband Jim touches them.

Jim, who has vowed to never give up on his wife, added: "Every time I see any progress in Marie it gives me a huge sense of joy. We don't know what life will be like for her now.

"I massage her hands every day and sometimes I see little flickers in her fingers which gives me some hope."

A fundraiser has been set up to help Marie when she goes home which you can donate to here.