A PARAMEDIC and mother-of-two has been left paralysed from the neck down after a horror bike accident.
Mim Uglow was out cycling less than one mile from her home South Petherwin, Cornwall when the freak accident left her with life changing injuries earlier this year.
The 43-year-old paramedic was cycling along when her bike slipped on gravel and forced her off and onto the ground.
The mum, who has spent 21-years working on the frontline, knew instantly that she was paralysed from the neck down after not being able to move.
Mim was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon for emergency treatment.
Medics found that her spinal cord was not severed but swollen and under a lot of pressure, leaving her paralysed from the neck down.
Mim now has to spend most of her time laying flat and relies on her family to feed her.
Colleagues from the South Western Ambulance Service have since set up a fundraising page for Mim’s future treatment costs.
The page, which was set up on Tuesday, raised £17,000 in a day which will help go towards giving the hard-working the best chances of walking again.
Speaking today, close family friend and colleague Charlotte Hicks, 20, who set up the page, said: “She’s usually a proud and private lady. As paramedics our priority is helping other people so to be completely helpless is really tough.
“Mim’s older son is in his last year of primary school and starting secondary school in September so the goal would be to get Mim home for that to be around. She doesn’t want to miss that.
“It has been six weeks since the accident, the first twelve weeks are the most vital and that’s the point where we really know what the recovery will look like.”
She added: “Her boys visited this week. Mim still can’t do anything but lie down. It was lovely for her but very emotional.
“Her husband Ashley is taking care of the boys while continuing to work on their farm at one of the busiest times of the year. It has been life-changing for the family.
“It’s so early in the recovery we don’t know the full extent of the costs for rehab and to convert the house for Mim to be able to return.
“She has worked on the front line all through the pandemic and is a well-loved member of the farming community.
“She was really struggling with it, we had to say ‘you can’t be proud at this time’. All her family and colleagues felt helpless.
“It’s still so raw. Every day Mim has to come to terms with something else.”
The GoFundMe page, titled Help Paramedic Mim Uglow Walk Again, read: “Mim is a remarkable hard-working paramedic. She is also proud and independent, and despite everything, argues that many are worse off than her.
“However, her ‘Green Family’ know what lies ahead and the support she will need.
“Following immediate treatment she will face months and maybe even years of rehab.
“Initially this will be at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury.
“A three hours’ drive from home but hopefully she will be then able to come back to her home near the Devon and Cornwall border to continue her recovery.
“Now is the time for us all to give Mim something back – to give hope and support to an outstanding paramedic, friend, and colleague, the stranger who helped you when your need was greatest and whose future has been changed beyond any imagination.”
The GoFundMe page has a target of £30,000 and currently sits at just over £21,000.
To donate, please visit https://gofund.me/90c8cb33
