Navy SEAL left in wheelchair after prescription drug 'ruined his life'
Navy SEAL Petra Walker-Barrera was left with severe nerve damage and is now confined to a wheelchair after taking a dangerous drug prescribed by her doctor. unknowingly.
A Royal Navy veteran has opened up about how he suffered a massive heart attack and is now confined to a wheelchair after his doctor prescribed him an anti-seizure drug. .
Petra Walker-Barrera, 68, from Dover, Kent, who says she was 'stolen by life', can no longer smile and has problems with her movement, speech and vision after being given metoclopramide regularly, which is the intended drug. to fight nausea. Despite NHS guidance that the drug should not be taken for more than five days, Ms Walker-Barrera was prescribed the drug repeatedly from 2008 to 2019.
Ms Walker-Barrera reported serious health problems to doctors many times over the years, but each time she was dismissed as having anxiety and her problems were unrelated. and medicine until it is too late. In 2019, a neurologist finally found the cause, but by then, the damage was irreversible. Now, she can't clean, cook or do her own makeup.
The grandmother, who worked on a cruise ship after her career in the navy, eventually took legal action over her treatment and was granted permission, lawyers Slater Gordon confirmed. He said: “What happened took my life away.
“I can't do things on my own anymore. I have to always rely on people – even for something like cooking. I had to accept being in a wheelchair. I don't want people to see me I also lost my job on a ship – because you can't work at sea if you're disabled and I've worked at sea all my life.
Losing her job and life at sea has been especially difficult for the mother of four, who worked as a radio operator in the Navy from the age of 16 until she got married. at the age of 21. After escaping a bad relationship, he returned to the water to work in relations and records on cruise ships.
He said: “It's very frustrating because I've been at sea all my life and I can't do that anymore, because if the ship was in trouble I wouldn't be able to help. I also feel like I lost my identity because in my jobs I had to dress well and take pride in my appearance.
But now, I can't wear nice shoes because my feet are twisted inwards, and I can't put on make-up because I can't use my hands.
Ms Walker-Barrera now has a powerful deep brain implant, which uses artificial electrical currents to the nerves in her brain to help her control her speech and movement. However, he will be left with the effects of the drug for the rest of his life, including heart failure and neurological disorders tardive dystonia and dyskinesia. He wants to warn others about the long-term dangers of metoclopramide.
He said: “I want people to realize how dangerous this drug is. And I want GPs to start listening to patients and stop this cycle of endless repetition. I went I was told many times that my symptoms were anxiety, or because I was a woman, or because of my age.
“This was because GPs would only listen to one symptom at a time – and I was never given explanations for my medication. I'm afraid that this will ruin someone's life – if it It's already there. And it's going to affect a lot of people.”
Ms Walker-Barrera emphasized that the effects of the drug had not only affected her, but also those around her. He said: “It's important to think about the fact that this has not only affected my life – it has also affected the lives of my children who have to take on the role of carers.”
He said how the situation had undermined his faith in UK health care, saying: “When the NHS was created, it was brilliant. But it has changed – not for the better. And I think things are going badly in terms of GPs are not like that. I have a problem with the way they have to do things like this now, I have cost the NHS a lot of money with all my care.
He added: “But all that could have been prevented if someone had listened to me – even if the doctors had not prescribed me to use the medicine for longer than they should have.”
Ms. Walker Barrera added that the money she received from her residence will not make up for what she lost and she is now mourning the loss of her life. “I was asked by legal teams to provide details about my loss of income, but it wasn't just income. It was a lifestyle. It was being at sea. I was able to take my children on cruises in the Caribbean.
“You can't measure the loss of something like that.”
#Navy #SEAL #left #wheelchair #prescription #drug #39ruined #life39