A DREAM trip turned into a nightmare for a young woman who was left completely paralysed after an apparent cold.

Danielle McGuinness, from Provanhill, had spent months planning a four-week holiday to Cambodia and Vietnam, where she planned to volunteer to teach English.

But, just hours before her flight on January 8 the 29-year-old began to lose the feeling in her limbs and was rushed to hospital in Bournemouth.

"I had some cold symptoms through Christmas and New Year," she told the Evening Times.

"I had a really bad cough and I was throwing up but I was thinking 'just keep going to work because you're off for a month'.

"You never think these things are as serious as they are."

Read more: Renfrew Lane in Glasgow sealed off as police probe rape of teenager

The night before she was due to leave, the former All Saints Secondary pupil began to notice numbness in her hands and legs and knew instantly something was wrong.

The next morning Danielle visited her GP who told her her symptoms were down to anxiety stemming from her upcoming trip.

Danielle, who moved to the seaside resort seven years ago, was unconvinced and soon began to deteriorate, forcing her terrified mum, Jessie, to call for an ambulance.

In hospital, she was diagnosed with the mysterious Guillain-Barré syndrome - a rare and serious condition which affects the nerves - and was placed into an induced coma as the condition attacked her lungs.

When she woke up in intensive care, she was rendered paralysed from the head down and left unable to speak due to a tracheotomy.

The train manager said: "That was the lowest point. I was lying in a bed for 11 weeks so my muscles wasted away.

"I had to learn how to do everything again, how to brush my hair, how to sit up - like a baby."

A gruelling physio therapy regimen and round the clock care from staff at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, as well as family and friends helped her get back on the mend.

But, a relapse followed by a gallbladder condition saw her back in hospital last month.

Read more: Man arrested after crash on A803 in Kirkintilloch

"It's the hardest journey I've ever been through and it's driving me mad being at home everyday, not being able to do something and always wondering if it's coming back", she said.

"I want to know what caused this, why this happened to me, why I'm the one in 50,000 but, I don't know if I ever will."

It's almost impossible to detect what causes the condition to arise, although doctors suspect Danielle may have been battling a virus over Christmas which spiralled out of control.

She has learned to walk unaided and can manage almost all of her care on her own, but the constant fatigue and relapses may stay with her forever.

Miraculously, she's managed to remain positive and plans to write a book about her experience to help other people with the condition as well as completing her travel to Asia.

She said: "It's definitely not put me off travelling, I see it as a journey I have to complete.

Read more of today's top Glasgow stories

"I'm a pretty positive person, although this has tested me, but if I can help someone else see there's another side to this condition, it'll be worth it."