A former Scottish nurse has been left paralysed after hitting her head on the toilet during a sudden fall in the bathroom.
Marie Oglivie, suffered the devastating injuries on August 14 while at her home in Perth, with the 54-year-old now unable to breathe for herself.
Now without movement in her arms, hands and legs, Marie has spent months in hospital following the accident, which began when she had complained of feeling unwell one evening.
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Going to the toilet at around 10.30pm, Marie's husband Jim explained he had heard a terrifying thud around ten minutes later, and found his wife on the floor bleeding.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Jim said Marie began to come around but was bleeding heavily from the nose when an ambulance arrived.
Married for over 30 years, he said: "When I first saw her lying on the bathroom floor I thought she was a goner. I tried to stem the flow of the blood but I was panicking. She started to come around and told me to ring an ambulance.
"She remembers sitting on the toilet, leaning on the water basin, and then she must have fallen off the seat and banged her head.
"While we were waiting for an ambulance, she became aware she couldn't move. She was just so helpless."
Arriving at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Marie underwent emergency spinal surgery the following day, before being taken to a spinal injury unit in Glasgow 24 hours later.
As well as receiving specialist care, Marie was also forced to be on a ventilator for six weeks as she was unable to breathe on her own, before having a tracheostomy tube fitted.
Doctors then told Marie and Jim that she is tetraplegic, which means she is unable to voluntarily move her arms, hands and legs.
"Marie was able to speak for the first time last week. I was in tears at the side of her bed after not hearing her voice for what felt so long," Jim said. "I've been by her side the whole time, and it's costing a fortune living in a hotel for all this time but I want to be here every step of the journey.
Marie medically retired from the NHS seven years ago after mobility problems and joint pain made it difficult for her to walk.
Then in 2017 she was diagnosed with a narrowing of the spinal cord in her neck. The condition means impact to the area could cause paralysis - but surgery was deemed too risky.
Jim explained: "She had to be extremely careful. No sudden jolts, sometimes she would tell me to slow down when I was driving, in case it damaged her neck.
"If she was feeling unwell, I would typically bring a basin to her but she seemed happy taking herself to the bathroom that night."
She is now receiving intense physio therapy and electrode stimulation at the Spinal Unit's rehabilitation centre. There has been little sign of progress for Marie, except a tingling sensation in her hands when her husband Jim touches them.
Jim, who has vowed to never give up on his wife added: "Every time I see any progress in Marie it gives me a huge sense of joy. We don't know what life will be like for her now.
"I massage her hands every day and sometimes I see little flickers in her fingers which gives me some hope."
A fundraiser has been set up to help Marie be as comfortable as possible when she goes home.
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