Emergency flight to Germany for lyme disease sufferer

A YOUNG Melbourne woman has been rushed to Germany for treatment to save her from a mystery illness her family says is not recognised by Australian doctors.

AUGSBURG, GERMANY - MAY 21: Amy O'Sullivan (C) poses for a portrait in a rehab gym on May 21, 2015 in Augsburg, Germany. Amy O'Sullivan, 30, is suffering from Lyme Disease and has been rushed to Germany for treatment at the specialist BCA clinic. The condition is not recognised in Australia, so Amy and her family have been trying to get answers and help for two years while her condition has progressively got worse and worse, to the point she was became extremely ill last week and had to get special medical permission to leave hospital and fly to Germany. Photo by Philipp Guelland/Getty Images for Daily Telegraph)

A YOUNG Melbourne woman has been rushed to Germany for treatment to save her from a mystery illness her family says is not recognised by Australian doctors.

Amy O’Sullivan, 30, had to gain 11th-hour medical permission and be released from hospital hours before boarding a plane for Germany last Wednesday to begin three months’ treatment for Lyme disease.

The flight came two years after Ms O’Sullivan’s health began deteriorating from an illness Australian doctors have been unable to diagnose, but which has left her in excruciating pain and suffering violent daily seizures, anaphylactic fits, migraines and only able to walk short distances.

A US clinic has analysed a blood sample and diagnosed Ms O’Sullivan with Lyme disease, however the tick-borne condition is not considered to exist in Australia.

Although she has been treated in several Melbourne hospitals over the past two years, when Ms O’Sullivan began suffering cardiac issues a fortnight ago her family rushed her to the specialist BCA clinic in Augsburg.

“It is extraordinary what she is going through,” her father, Michael O’Sullivan, said .

“We have come here to get better regardless of whether the Australian medical industry and government don’t recognise it or understand it.”

Ms O’Sullivan’s predicament is almost identical to that of football legend Peter Knights’ daughter, Sarah, 22, who returned from the same German clinic a fortnight ago.

After becoming frustrated at the lack of treatment for his wheelchair-bound daughter in Australia, Knights said he was full of emotion when Sarah was able to stand at the BCA.

“I hadn’t seen her stand let alone take steps in 12 months after people here said last year, ‘sorry, we don’t know what’s wrong with her, we can’t do any more for her and we might have to prepare for life in a wheelchair’,” he said.

Ms O’Sullivan’s battle has generated a groundswell of powerful supporters. Mr O’Sullivan, is a former Victorian Bushrangers coach; her uncles, Luke and Brendan O’Sullivan, played for Carlton; cousin Daniel Hannebery is a current Sydney Swans star; and family friend and Carlton great Geoff Southby is leading the push for help.

Hannebery has backed a campaign Take a Bite out of Lyme diseasewhere people take a selfie eating a lime to raise awareness. The supporters have also held a fun run for Ms O’Sullivan and will stage a June 4 movie night at Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School to help cover the $150,000 treatment costs.

THE LYME DISEASE DEBATE

IT is claimed more than 100,000 Australians suffer from Lyme disease. But the nation’s medical community is divided over the condition, which does not officially exist here.

A FEDERAL Government advisory committee last year acknowledged the possibility a “Lyme disease-like syndrome” may exist in Australia and should be investigated further.

WHILE the illness is acknowledged overseas and in Australian travellers returning infected with the Borrelia bacteria, medical authorities have not been able to identify any domestic ticks carrying the disease.

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TO SUPPORT AMY O’SULLIVAN VISIT TICKEDOFF.NET.AU