'I lost the ability to walk before I was 50 - then I had surgery which changed my life'

A mum from Whalley Range who lost her ability to walk before she turned 50 has thanked doctors for giving her a ‘new lease of life’.

Lisa Clarke, 53, started having problems with her hips eight years ago, with her list of symptoms only including a limp and mild pain to start with. However, her discomfort worsened — to the point where she couldn’t get out of bed and had to be carried to the bath by her family. She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis which ‘caused the bones in my hips to turn to dust’, she said.

But her pain wasn’t just physical, Lisa, an office worker, added. “It got really bad over the space of a couple of years, my hips completely crumbled and when I walked I was hunched over and almost crabbing with my walking stance – if I caught my reflection whilst walking I’d look away,” she explained.

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“It eventually got to the point where I was unable to walk at all or even dress myself and the pain was excruciating. The pain was worse than childbirth, like being electrocuted every time my bones grinded against each other.

“I was completely housebound, there was a period of five weeks [where] I had to stay laid down on the bed as the pain was excruciating when I tried to move. My family would carry me to the bath and help me shower, I couldn’t dress myself and just getting to the toilet was a huge struggle.

“Losing my mobility wasn’t only damaging to my physical health, my mental health also suffered massively. I couldn’t socialise or do