FND ACTION GAME Tiverton Town Women v Crediton United.

Next Tuesday on the 19th of May, Tiverton Town Women Host Crediton United in the Devon Women's Football League for a 19:00 KO, with the Sports Bar open from 18:30.

The girls will be raising money during the game for FND Action in support of their teammate Sianne Wilkinson, through a donation at the gate and a raffle.

Sianne's Story

On the 13th of December 2025, what started as a normal night out with the football girls turned into something that would change my life completely. It was nothing unusual—just laughter, messing around, a bit of play fighting. The kind of night you don’t think twice about. But somehow, in that moment, I fractured my coccyx.

Sianne Wilkinson in action for the Yellows.

At the time, it didn’t seem like something that would lead to anything serious. But two days later, everything changed.

I woke up and couldn’t feel my right leg at all.

Within hours, I was being rushed to hospital by ambulance. At Exeter Hospital, doctors confirmed the fractured coccyx, but things quickly became more concerning. I went into urinary retention and had to be catheterised. There was an urgent fear of something called cauda equina syndrome—a serious condition involving compression of the nerves at the base of the spine that can cause permanent damage if not treated quickly.

I underwent an MRI scan, and thankfully, cauda equina was ruled out. But that didn’t explain what was happening to my body.

I spent the next week in hospital, being seen by multiple doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and eventually a neurologist. After days of tests and uncertainty, I was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder—FND.

I made the difficult decision to discharge myself from hospital for the sake of myself and my children. I went home on crutches, relying heavily on my family for support. I was told physiotherapy would begin, but weeks passed and nothing was arranged. Nearly a month later, when I saw the neurologist again, physio still hadn’t been put in place.

Eventually, I had a few sessions—but everything still felt uncertain.

Then on the 27th of February 2026, something happened that changed everything again.

I went to the toilet on my crutches like I had done many times before. Nothing unusual. But about half an hour later, sitting on my sofa, I realised I couldn’t feel my other leg either.

From that moment on, I have been paralysed from the waist down.

I now rely on a wheelchair for mobility. Since then, my condition has continued to affect me in ways I never imagined. I experience seizures, which have been diagnosed as FND seizures and confirmed through brain scans. Every month, I go into urinary retention and need hospital treatment and catheterisation because my brain isn’t sending the correct signals to my body.

My hands can suddenly clamp shut, leaving me unable to move my wheelchair or even help myself. I live with constant fatigue and daily pain.

But FND hasn’t just affected me physically—it has completely changed my life mentally and emotionally too.

I’ve lost my job. I’ve stopped socialising. I no longer do the things I used to love. I can’t go out alone anymore because of the fear—fear of having a seizure, fear of my hands locking, fear of being stranded and unable to get home.

No two days are the same. My condition is unpredictable, and that uncertainty affects everything.

FND has taken so much from me—but what’s just as difficult is how little people understand it.

That’s why awareness matters.

Because this condition is real. It’s life-changing. And for people like me, it affects every single part of daily life.

What is FND

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a condition where there is a problem with how the brain and body send and receive signals.

In simple terms, the brain is structurally normal, but it isn’t functioning properly in how it communicates with the body.

Symptoms can change from day to day and can be triggered by injury, illness, or stress, or they can appear without a clear cause.

Because awareness is still low, many people with FND face delays in diagnosis, treatment, and support.

Find out more about FND and FND Action here: https://www.fndaction.org.uk/

FND Action Raffle

We will be holding a raffle with prizes from across our community. Thank you to all the individuals and businesses who are supporting the great cause.