Candice Roberts

A young woman who complained of ‘pins and needles’ died three weeks later of a rare disease that paralyses the entire body.

Candice Marie Roberts, 26, was struck down with Guillain-Barre syndrome and died on her birthday at Warrington Hospital’s intensive care unit in Cheshire.

The trainee teacher had complained about feeling unwell and was struggling to walk.

She was discharged from hospital after a number of tests but returned days later when she started to become paralysed.

Her mother Karen, 51, said: ‘She was scared. She couldn’t speak and she couldn’t eat. We were struggling to communicate with her.

‘She just lay there like someone that you would see on TV.

‘Guillain-Barre syndrome is the most evil virus I have ever encountered.’

The syndrome affects about 1,500 people in the UK every year but most patients make a full recovery within a few weeks or months. However, it can kill in rare cases.

Candice’s family thought they had been thrown a lifeline when she started to get movement again in her arms but she started to struggle to breathe and suffered a cardiac arrest on August 17.

She was sedated due to a huge swell on her brain and on her birthday she was taken off the sedation but later died on August 23.

Miss Roberts had been enrolled on a PGCE course for September.

Her mother said: ‘We waited for her to live but on her birthday she chose not to.

‘It was 11.30pm and me, Stephen, her dad, her sister Cheryl and Andrew, her brother-in-law had waited for her all day.

‘It was like she was still there but was making her mind up. I never thought she would die even on the day. I just thought she would be coming home.

‘I am still in shock. She was young and we didn’t think she was a risk. The sums just don’t add up.’

Before becoming ill. Candice signed herself up to be an organ donor.

The 26-year-old, a musical theatre graduate, had showcased The Flower Whose Essence Is Dead, a performance she co-wrote, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006 and worked with a touring theatre company in Chorley.

Her mother said: ‘We adore talking about her. She just used to ponder over things and once she ran in and said to me that she thought she had run over Stuart Little after running over a mouse.

‘She was still in touch with her childhood. She never wanted to grow up. She was the funniest person. I can guarantee that if you stopped someone in the street who knew her they would say how special she was. She was stunning.

‘It is really easy to talk about her. It makes me glow because you feel like she is with you.’

Karen, Stephen and the family are raising awareness of the illness and fundraising for research into Guillain-Barre syndrome.

They plan to keep Candice’s memory alive by offering performing arts workshops to young children in their local area.