For weeks, Mélanie Bergeron McAndrew was stranded in a Greek hospital, paralyzed from the neck down.
The Gatineau, Que., woman had been stricken with a rare auto-immune disorder called Gullain-Barré Syndrome, which attacks the body's peripheral nerves.
She was scared and found it difficult to get answers from foreign doctors she couldn't easily communicate with.
Although her mother was able to fly to Greece to be by her side, Bergeron McAndrew ached to see her two young daughters the entire time.
Now a month after her diagnosis, Bergeron McAndrew has been flown back to Canada, where she's currently being treated at the Hull Hospital and showing signs of improvement.
'Trapped in my own body'
"I am happy to be back and to see my family. I am more positive about the future," said Bergeron McAndrew from her hospital bed last Friday.
The previous day, the 35 year-old regained the ability to swallow, so doctors removed her feeding tube — allowing her to speak again.
Since checking into the Hull Hospital, she's also regained some mobility in her hands, but her lower body remains paralyzed.
"It's very difficult to be trapped in my own body," she said. "Some days, in my head, I say I'm going to do this — but I can't do it."
There have been times when Bergeron McAndrew has tried to pick up a glass of water, or go the washroom — only to tear up in frustration when she realizes her brain isn't communicating with her muscles.
She was first diagnosed with Gullain-Barré syndrome on May 10, while she was on a cruise with her karate team. The neurological disorder is triggered when the body's immune system attacks its nerves, resulting in numbness, weakness and paralysis.
I woke up in the morning and I wasn't able to breathe.- Mélanie Bergeron McAndrew
The mother-of-two told Radio-Canada that, while in Greece, she was near death and placed in critical care for about 10 days.
"I woke up in the morning and I wasn't able to breathe. And they told [me] 'There is some problems with your lungs, and we need to bring you to the ICU.'"
Bergeron McAndrew remembers being terrified as she was wheeled into the intensive care unit.
"They suctioned my nose and my mouth and my heartbeat was going down. I was afraid to die."
Vows to 'enjoy life again'
While she was in Greece, her friends started a crowdfunding campaign and raised $25,000 to fly her back to Canada. After several sessions of plasma exchange therapy, doctors told her she was strong enough to travel.
On June 1, Bergeron McAndrew was carried by a medical team onto a plane bound for Canada. The journey included stopovers and took a painful 18 hours.
Once she arrived at the hospital, Bergeron McAndrew was reunited with her daughters.
Bergeron McAndrew said her girls motivate her to get better. Although there is no cure for Guillain-Barré Syndrome, the majority of people do recover over time with treatment and physical therapy.
"I will have to learn how to walk again, and this will take time, but I feel positive because I know I can do this — even if it takes weeks, months or years," she said.
"I will do that and make it for sure, because I want to be back home and be with my kids and enjoy life again."