A 20-year-old student said that she was struck by a rare spinal disorder and just two hours later she was paralyzed from the neck down.

It begun when Abby Rout felt shooting pain and numbness in her hand and within the next two hours she lost all feeling below her neck.

She was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, a rare condition caused by multiple factors like viral infection, vaccination or spinal injury.

This condition affects the spinal cord and causes paralysis and numbness in the limbs leaving many victims with severe disabilities, whereas some others can make a complete or partial recovery within two years.

She said, “I hadn't had anything alcoholic to drink. I had just got into the pub when my arm started to really hurt and then I dropped my bag.”

When she complained of shooting pain her friends rushed her to the Southampton General Hospital.

She wanted to be a riding instructor but doctors told her that she may never be able to sit on her horse, Pandora, again.