'I thought I had strep throat' - Irish woman (22) has to learn to walk again after mystery illness

A young girl has opened up about learning to walk again after being diagnosed with encephalitis in April of 2020. 

Sophie Ella, who is known on social media for her catchphrase 'Don't walk, run to Dunnes,' spoke to Kieran Cuddihy on LiveLine with her mother, Celine. 

Before being diagnosed, Celine had been unwell and a week later, Sophie became unwell too, so they assumed it was the same thing. 

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The 22-year-old had been experiencing cold and flu-like symptoms, and as Covid was just beginning, she considered that maybe she had that either. 

"I thought I had strep throat," Sophie said. 

Encephalitis is the inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection in the body. 

Sophie spent four weeks in the hospital without seeing her family and was the first person in Ireland to be diagnosed with the disease because of Covid. 

Celine shared that during those four weeks, her daughter's chances of survival were "very touch and go," and at one stage, she even got a phone call to come say goodbye to Sophie as she wasn't going to make it. 

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Because of the time and restrictions were in place, Celine was not allowed to go and visit her daughter. 

"The first couple of weeks were horrendous because I couldn't have family around me, so I was at home on my own. My other daughter couldn't come home because I had been infected," Celine shared.

She didn't know much about Sophie's condition, only that she was "knocked out" and "didn't know what was going on." 

After becoming stable, Sophie had the huge task of learning to walk again. 

She spent roughly seven months at home before being transferred to the rehab hospital.

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"The nurses were very encouraging and my dad," she said about re-learning to walk.

"She had to learn how to feed herself, how to walk, how to talk, all of that again," Celine explained.

After getting her daughter home from the hospital, she decided that they weren't going to "waste a minute" and would be living their lives to the fullest from that moment on. 

You can follow Sophie on social media by searching her handle @_sophieellamakeup22 on Instagram and TikTok.