A student rower claims capsizing her boat in "dirty" river water has left her with a stomach condition that saw her vomit up to 40 times a day and unable to eat a meal for almost two years.
Kira Roberts was rowing along the River Witham, in Lincoln, with two friends in December 2020 when her boat rolled over and she tumbled into the water.
The 23-year-old says she wasn't worried as she'd fallen out of the boat many times before, so she hopped back in and continued rowing before going home for a shower.
But days later, when she became dizzy and started to vomit, she went to A&E where she spent a week in hospital while puzzled medics tried to work out the cause.
Blood tests eventually revealed that self-professed "unlucky" Kira was suffering with glandular fever and viral hepatitis, which doctors believed she picked up from 'contaminated' water.
In July this year the psychology student was diagnosed with gastroparesis, a long-term chronic condition where the stomach cannot empty in the normal way.
The condition means that every time Kira eats she vomits, causing her weight to plummet.
Doctors fitted Kira with a nasal tube that bypassed her stomach and went straight to her intestine, but that didn't work and left her at risk of "starving to death".
As a last resort they had to feed Kira by injecting nutrients directly into her veins to keep her alive.
The keen rower hasn't eaten a meal since Christmas Day 2020, has been in and out of hospital eight times and for a total of seven months and says her life has been "put on hold".
Kira, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: "I was rowing for university.
"I went in a single rowing boat one morning and ended up capsizing and falling into the water. I was fine and got out, it happens quite regularly.
"It was very cold, I got changed and went home. I spent the whole day in bed because I was cold.
"A few days later I started to feel really unwell, I felt headachy and sick, so I called 111 and they got me an appointment with an out-of-hours doctors."
Doctors initially thought Kira had pulled the muscles in her arm and back from rowing and didn't put two and two together because nobody else had issues.
"I got worse, the walls were moving, I was throwing up and feeling really poorly so I called 111 again and they told me to go to A&E," she added.
"They did loads of tests and they didn't know what was wrong. Bloods show that my liver and spleen was affected.
"It turned out I had glandular fever from contaminated water and viral hepatitis. I can't remember much of the week because I was fast asleep, I didn't know what was going on."
She was then put on antibiotics and anti-sickness medication and went home to her family two days before Christmas.
"I had a nice Christmas but I wasn't feeling great. On Boxing Day, we had a pizza and I threw it all up and I felt quite ill," she said.
"They said if I declined in any way I needed to go to hospital. I went to A&E and got admitted and from December 27 until March I was in hospital.
Kira dropped from 73kg to 45kg, leaving her in a lot of pain.
She also had to have feeding tube in her stomach but she constantly threw up the food.
"I could be sick up to 40 times a day, which is just draining, it was bile and acid. It was painful, it burned my throat," she added.
"I'd still try to eat so my body didn't completely stop working but I'd throw it up and still be throwing up two hours later.
"It didn't surprise me when the doctor said it was caused by the water because I'm unlucky.
"My mum is the same, weird things that don't happen to most people happen to us but I never thought this would be my life two years later."
Kira, who took up rowing just a year before she became sick, trained in the river six days a week.
She was forced to take a year out of university so she could be cared for by her mum Donna Roberts, 46, her dad Steve Roberts, 52, and 23-year-old partner Cam Macintosh.
Kira said: "My life has been on hold. I can't go back to Lincoln because I need all the support I can get.
"It was really upsetting to miss the last year of university, all my friends got to graduate together, it was hard missing out.
"It was hard to see everyone moving forward and my life sort of stuck. I absolutely loved rowing, I made so many friends.
"I used to play football but I broke my knee. I wanted to do something but I can't twist my knee [so took up rowing], I'm just unlucky.
"Rowing is only bending your knees and I'd never tried it before so I got into it and really enjoyed it. It's very intense but I made a good group of friends, I really miss it.
"It was nice to be with a group of people who have things in common. I'm a team player so I love being with other people."
After months of trying to find a solution, Kira decided to find a private specialist who diagnosed her with gastroparesis in July 2021.
It was recommended she try total parenteral nutrition (TPN), a method of feeding that bypasses the gastrointestinal tract so Kira is fed through injections in the veins.
Kira says thanks to this method of feeding, she started to improve physically and was even able to start work at a pub this summer.
Kira said: "The decision to inject nutrients into my veins wasn't taken lightly. It was a last resort because of complications, but it was that or starve to death.
"A nurse had to train me, you have to be really sterile because it goes straight to your heart.
"I was improving, I couldn't eat and I was vomiting and in pain but I had more energy and I felt human again.
"I could go out and enjoy doing stuff. It was lovely having the energy I hadn't had for a whole year. I was doing really well."
Kira was taken back into hospital on October 2 due to an infection in her tube, which had to be taken out while she recovers meaning she's back on a nasal tube connected to her intestine.
Kira said: "I'm without proper nutrition for a while because they have to wait until the infection is gone until they put the line back in.
"I'm not taking to it, I'm in pain, I'm throwing up and I'm bloated.
"I'm on pain relief and anti-sickness. The nurses are amazing, credit to them.
"I'm always on the same ward so they've seen me through my journey and make things a lot easier.
"It's hard being in hospital, it has a toll on your mental health. You see things other people don't see, you see people dying."
Now Kira and her family are fundraising for a gastric pacemaker, a device designed to stimulate the stomach placed into a small pocket made under the skin of the abdomen.
They've currently reached more than £18,000 of their £45,000 target.
Kira said: "The next option is getting a gastric pacemaker. It's a machine that is put in the stomach and stimulates muscles so food can be pushed through but you need to be able to tolerate tube feeding.
"The gastric pacemaker works for some people but not for others. It's not on the NHS because there isn't enough evidence to show that it helps but it's the only option we have.
"I have seen stories of people who have had it and it's changed their lives and they've been able to eat.
"I know I won't be able to eat massive meals or a big fat Chinese but if I could eat some pasta or salad or have some normality and go out for a meal and eat with my family.
"That's my goal but everything is in the dark so it's hard to see the goal when it's so far away.
"I cry about how generous people have been, it's so amazing how many people actually care. I'm so thankful for it."
You can donate to Kira's page here .
