Holly Frances (she/her)
Illness: Guillain-Barré syndrome, diagnosed at 26 y.o.
Who I am: A writer, a survivor, an advocate, a fitness lover, a speaker, and a mother in a blended family of five.
A little more: When I was twenty-six years old, three weeks after giving birth to my daughter Casey, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). The disorder progressed very quickly and within 72 hours of my first symptom, I was in the ICU on life support. I spent almost three months paralyzed from the neck down, unable to move, speak, or hold my newborn baby girl. When I finally started to recover, I had to learn how to do everything again, including how to breathe off the ventilator, how to use my hands and feed myself, how to hold my daughter, and eventually how to walk again. Casey was almost 6 months old when I was finally able to return to my life as a wife and new mom.
After months of hard work and rehabilitation, I made an almost complete recovery. Everything I went through changed me so much, and I knew that I wanted to bring more awareness to this rare but devastating illness. I documented my journey in my now viral YouTube Video that led me onto a new path in life. I now volunteer with the GBS-CIDP Foundation of Canada to provide hope to newly diagnosed patients, and to help advocate for the rare condition that forever changed my life. I also run a social media platform under the name Holly After GBS where I connect with others around the world.
I am currently finishing up work on my new memoir, to be published in 2022.