A mum who has lived with multiple sclerosis for over a decade says a 50,000 treatment unavailable on the NHS could be her last shot at living a life largely unhindered by the disease.

Jodie McQuillian, 32, was formally diagnosed with the chronic condition in 2015, a few years after the first signs appeared when she temporarily lost vision in her left eye.

Since then, she has undergone multiple treatments and bouts of physiotherapy in order to stave off relapses of the condition.

But the mum of one faces life in a wheelchair if she can't put a halt to the rampant flare-ups.

Multiple sclerosis, often known as MS, is a condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks nerves around the brain and spinal cord, affecting the body's ability to transmit signals properly.

Each time Jodie "relapses" - when her body launches a new attack on itself - she finds herself sapped of energy and often experiences issues with her sight and mobility.

It takes her months to recover from each flare-up, affecting the time she can spend with son Ethan, five, and her family.

And every time there's a relapse, a little bit of her doesn't come back.

Jodie, from Alloa, told the Record: "I've just had another relapse and everything I'm trying isn't really effective enough.

"Since I started my newest treatment my walking has gotten a lot worse.

"Every time you relapse you recover but it takes months and you get put on a high dose of steroids and that drains you of all your muscle.

"I'm always left a wee bit damaged from a relapse - and when I feel like I've sort of recovered they flare up again."

After experiencing a major flare-up when she gave birth to Ethan, Jodie began undergoing treatment for MS, trying every drug available on the NHS in a bid to reduce the risk of relapsing.

Despite trying Copaxone injections, Tecfidera tablets and Ocrevus infusions through a drip in her arm over the course of five years, the setbacks have continued and Jodie's outlook is bleak.

There is currently no cure for MS and while her condition is currently recurring intermittently, it is likely to become progressive later in life with little hope of recovery.

However, her last hope may lie in a new treatment known as haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HSCT.

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Backed by the MS Society, it is an intense chemotherapy procedure that aims to "reset" Jodie's immune system and stop it from attacking her brain and spinal cord using stem cells found in bone marrow.

The treatment was approved for use on the NHS in Scotland in 2019 but the criteria is so tight that even Jodie, with her frequent relapses, doesn't qualify for it.

Her only option has been to go private abroad - at a cost of 50,000 - and her sister Tricia has launched a GoFundMe page to crowdfund the costs of the operation.

Since publishing the page last week, over 13,000 has been donated by well-wishers, giving Jodie hope she can put a halt to her body's war against itself.

HSCT won't fix the damage done to nerves nerves in the last decade, and is not without its risks, with side-effects such as increased risk of developing cancer.

However, it should put a stop to further degeneration - and serves as Jodie's last hope to live a life relatively free of MS.

"Every relapse is like setting my body up from scratch, and it happens again and again," she added.

"If my MS becomes progressive there's not a lot of treatment available for that all.

"I know from my own research it's beneficial doing the treatment sooner rather than later - and I'm too young not to try it now.

"My next relapse will probably put me in a wheelchair. But you wouldn't look at me 90% of the time and think there's anything wrong.

"To be honest, I feel like this is the last hope. This is the most extreme treatment you can get - it's chemotherapy.

"There's not much else I can do after this but it can't wait.

"It won't be an easy fix, it's not a bounce back - but it will stop the progression, and that's the goal.

"I want to be able to live my life - that's all I ask."

Jodie's sister Tricia Moran, who spearheaded the fundraising appeal, said: "Watching Jodie go through that first episode...it was quite heartbreaking as a family to watch.

"We didn't get any answers for a long time and it really impacted on her confidence - we couldn't reassure her and felt quite helpless.

"As a family we've seen her struggle so much with her relapses and she's so aware of what she's lost.

"She can't just take Ethan to the toy shop on a whim - everything has to be planned.

"It's an understatement to say how overwhelmed we have been by the kindness of friends, family and complete strangers."

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Scots mum with MS says 50k treatment abroad is 'last hope' of halting disease - Daily Record

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