Model who thought she was having a bad dream when she woke up one day PARALYSED

A model who thought she was having a bad dream when she woke up paralysed has told how she’s still in a wheelchair two-and-a-half years later – and doesn’t know if she’ll ever walk again.

Sonia Vera, 46, of London, led a healthy and active lifestyle until mid-2017, when she went for a nap one Saturday because she felt a bit ‘off’ and suddenly found herself unable to move.

Doctors struggled to pinpoint the cause and she was diagnosed with a rare neurological autoimmune disease with no known cure.

After spending months in hospital Sonia, who ran her own fashion brand Sonia Vera Swimwear and often used to model her designs which were a favourite of Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio, is now wheelchair-bound and undergoing physiotherapy.

She has regained some feeling on the left side of her body and is able to move her arms and left leg, but she worries she is a ‘burden’ to her husband and her friends and family.

Sonia has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money to have pioneering epidural stimulation surgery, the world’s most advanced procedure for spinal cord injuries.

She also hopes to buy an Alinker bike, a non-motorised walking-bike to help her build strength in her legs and do her physio independently, and fly to Kentucky to attend a rehabilitation centre.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Sonia said she’s determined to keep living her life to the full.

‘It’s been tough for everyone involved. I have missed out a lot on different things in my life,’ she said. 

‘I want to keep traveling the world and share all the beautiful things I see, just as I did before. I have lived a beautiful life and there’s still more to see and do. “No cure” is not good enough for me.’

Sonia, who was born in Venezuela and raised in Los Angeles, told how she used to love snowboarding, cycling and playing tennis. 

Her swimwear designs were regularly modelled on the catwalk, notably at the Merecedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim in 2012.

On the morning her life changed forever, she had woken up as normal but began experiencing a strange sensation in her arms.

‘I was in my flat and it was a typical Saturday morning. My husband and I were going to go play tennis,’ she recalled.

‘I got up first and about an hour later I started feeling pins and needles in my arms and then in my chest. I thought I was having my heart attack.

‘When I went to grab my phone to call for help my fingers didn’t work. I knew then something was wrong.’

Sonia went to hospital but claims she was sent home and told to take a nap. Five hours later she woke up paralysed. 

‘I thought it was a bad dream,’ she said. ‘For some reason I didn’t panic, I think because I was in total disbelief. I just lay there praying I would be OK. I could move my head a tiny bit, but I was flat on the bed and we thought it would be best not to try and move me.

‘I was transported to hospital and proceeded to spend the next 15 hours trying to convince doctors that I was paralysed, but they didn’t believe me.’

Sonia underwent a series of tests including two spinal taps, where a needle is inserted between two vertebrae to remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid for diagnostic testing, but everything came back negative. 

‘I was told I had a rare neurological autoimmune disease with no cure,’ she said. ‘They could never find the cause of my paralysis.

‘My neurologist told me not to Google my symptoms, but I did. I read every site until morning. I put myself into the three month recovery group, but that soon came and went. 

‘I then put myself into the six month recovery category, but that too came and went.’

After three months in hospital, Sonia’s friend helped her do a modelling shoot from her bed and wheelchair to boost her spirits, and she shared the pictures on Instagram.

‘On the inside I felt that I was the same person; on the outside was another reality,’ she captioned the shots.

‘Strung up on steroids I had a moon face and actually I didn’t mind, it did wonders for my skin, hair and nails, but what you can’t see is the pain I was going through. I could barely hold my head up and had no body function to hold me up. 

‘My muscles were unengaged. That’s the thing with being paralysed, your muscles and organs drop. But I was determined and my dear friend came to capture some images. The nurses were amazing in helping me do this shoot. I felt pretty and in great spirits. Life is about that, having great spirits amidst the adversity.’

Sonia remains determined to get better, and was ‘angry’ when specialists asked her about her short and long term goals to ‘live comfortably in a wheelchair’.

‘Why is the wheelchair the only way to live, why should that be my goal?’ she said.

‘They were all crazy. I’m still fighting this fight, whatever it is, every day. I’m sure something good will come out of this, even if it’s just to help others be inspired to never give up. 

‘I miss designing and running my own brand so much. I hope that God will give me the opportunity to get back to that. 

‘I have good days and bad days, but most importantly I’m grateful to wake up to see another day.’

Sonia admitted she is more worried about the people around her who have to cope with her condition than she is about herself. 

‘I don’t want to be a burden to them,’ she said. ‘I lived a privileged life, and for that I am grateful everyday, but it is not their duty to carry my cause. I’m fighting for them.

‘I’m struggling to find treatment, but it’s not cheap and most of them are out of the country. 

‘Currently I only do physio in the hopes that I may walk. That could all change if I am able to have stem cell treatment or an epidural stimulator implanted.’

Speaking about the £6,140 people have donated towards her £75,000 goal, Sonia said it’s ‘amazing’. 

‘It’s so touching and I’m so grateful to everyone supporting my cause,’ she said. ‘It’s truly a blessing.’