Lucy Lintott always dreamed of having children, but when she was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) at just 19 years old, doctors told her she could never have a family.
Most people with the disease don’t survive beyond three years after diagnosis, but eight years later, Lucy has two young children and plans to marry her partner, Tommy, later this month.
It is believed to be the second person in the world with MND to give birth twice.
MND is a rapidly progressing terminal disease that prevents messages from the brain from reaching the muscles.
The disease gradually makes movements such as grasping, walking, speaking, and swallowing extremely difficult and eventually impossible.
Difficulties in mobility and speech
Lucy, who grew up in the town of Garmouth in north-east Scotland, was diagnosed with the condition at the end of 2013.
She was the youngest person in Scotland to be diagnosed with the disease, which typically affects people over 40.
Three years later, aged 22, Lucy told the BBC that she felt like she was staying.slowly paralyzed” and that his concern was to gradually lose his “fun personality”.
The illness caused him to need to use a Wheelchair, since it was impossible for him to walk without assistance. Their ability to speak was also affected.
Lucy recorded her voice so that it could be used in case she completely lost her speech and began raising funds to have her condition investigated.
But as she commented in a new BBC documentary (“Being a Mum with MND”), the future terrified her.
School friends
Even though she needed professional caregivers to help her with most of her chores, Lucy was determined to move out of her parents’ house and into her own apartment in Elgin, a city not far from where her family lives.
“That really changed a lot of things,” he says. “I started to be independent, so I could ask a guy out without my mom embarrassing me.”
In 2018, Lucy reconnected with her old friend from school tommy smithwith whom he shared the modern studies class.
Tommy says that he was very shy, but that Lucy was very outgoing and that her laughter could be heard from three classes away.
He says he couldn’t resist her beaming smile and huge eyes. Lucy was attracted to the tight shirts and pants.
The friends became a couple.
“I didn’t have to protect myself,” says Luy. “He knew what he was getting herself into. He had to deal with people telling him I had MND.”
Help
Tommy proposed to her in 2019, and in September of last year, the couple announced that lucy was pregnant.
Her father, Robert, says they feared for Lucy’s health, as well as the baby’s. The risk for Lucy was great because she didn’t know how her muscles would react.
“But the rewards of being parents outweighed the risks,” explains Lucy.
On February 13, 2020, Lucy gave birth to a boy, who is publicly called LJ.
Tommy says that Lucy took on the role of mother with great ease, although she had to work closely with a team of assistants to care for LJ.
“Working with caregivers is all about me explaining and describing how I want things done,” says Lucy.
“Basically, they are like my arms”.
“Although she uses another person to serve them, she is the one who gives the instructions,” adds Tommy.
“Many told him ‘you can’t do this.’ Lucy is doing a fantastic job. She does a much better job than mine.”
new pregnancy
Shortly after LJ was born, the pandemic hit. Lucy had to take shelter and the couple postponed the wedding.
At the height of the pandemic, she had to move into her parents’ house to protect her health and continue to receive the care she needed.
And, in May of last year, Lucy and Tommy announced that they were expecting a girl.
Lucy’s mother, Lydia, says that her daughter always wanted children, and that it was beautiful when LJ arrived.
“But when they announced they were going to have another one, we were like, ‘Oh my God, what have you done!’” recalls Lydia.
The girl, named AR, was born just after Christmas.
“The birth was very hard and scary, but we are both fine and that is the most important thing,” says Lucy.
“She is definitely the last. I don’t think my body can tolerate it again.”
Marriage
Lucy says she relies heavily on her caregivers to help her with her children, but says she is constantly involved in their lives and they know she is their mother.
“I am proud that motherhood came quite easily to me despite being disabled,” she says.
“If I could do everything physically, I would. I don’t enjoy watching other people with my kids.”
Lucy plans to finally marry Tommy this month and then wants to spend as much time as possible with her family.
“I’m not materialistic,” he says. “What interests me most is my family and spending time with the people I love, because I don’t know how much time I have left.”
“I’m very grateful. I know that I am one of the very few people with MND who was able to have a child, let alone two. I take nothing for granted.” (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
