Sixteen-year-old Olivia Odey, also known as Liv, has faced a number of health issues these past few years, and for a long time, doctors weren’t able to figure out why. According to her blog, Odey developed food intolerances to dairy and sugar, and experienced excruciating stomach pains even after eliminating them from her diet. She also felt extreme fatigue, which affected her ability to walk and complete everyday tasks. In February 2015, the young teen could no longer hold herself up and was put in a wheelchair. “I had a terrible experience with the hospital and basically because no one could find answers easily, they put it in the ‘too hard basket,'” the young teen continued on her blog. “One doctor even said to me ‘If there was a fire I bet you would run out of here.'” Odey and her mother traced her health problems to Gardasil, an HPV vaccine that has been taken off the market in many countries. Some patients who have received the vaccine experienced weakness in the legs and shortness of breath, just like Olivia. She is careful not to weigh too heavily on the vaccination as the cause but as a trigger of her condition. Although many doctors were reluctant to believe this connection, one of them has supported it. With time, Olivia received several diagnoses: chronic regional pain syndrome, central neural sensitisation syndrome, and chronic fatigue, among others. Expected to make a full recovery, she attributes education, “good real food,” and positivity as the answers. Currently a vegan, she challenges us all to “eliminate sugar, dairy and gluten and add in more vegetables and fruit.” “You never know,” she says. “It may save your life.” **Check out Olivia’s amazing journey below:**
wheelchair One year ago yesterday I lost the ability to walk. I made this video in attempt to teach people to never give up – because things do get better x p.s watch in HD!! Posted by Olivia Odey on Thursday, February 4, 2016