A young woman had her life turned upside down after a fairground ride triggered a rare condition which left her feeling permanently DIZZY – even a YEAR later.
Bobbie Lane, 26, decided to go on a funfair ride at the Reading Festival which flipped and span her and pals around at high speeds.
But while the rest of her friends quickly recovered from their spin on the Superbowl ride, Bobbie did not.
She has felt dizzy unsteady on her feet ever since – as if she’s had too much to drink.
Doctors diagnosed Bobbie, of Ash, Kent, with Migraine Variant Balance Disorder – a rare condition that affects her balance and memory leaving her permanently feeling like she’s had too much to drink.
Bobbie, who went on the ride in August, 2013, said: “A couple of minutes after I got off the ride, I was still a bit dizzy, which I thought was strange.
“But I carried on at the festival, thinking I was feeling wobbly because I’d had too much fun in the sun.
“After I returned home, the dizziness stayed with me and it felt like I was permanently at sea.
“It slowly got worse, and eventually I went to the doctor, who immediately sent me to a neuroscientist consultant.”
Bobbie said: “I had always suffered from migraines, but the doctor asked me if I had done any extreme sports or gone on rollercoasters.
“I told him about the ride at Reading, and he said that was probably the cause.
“It’s changed my entire life. I’ve had to quit the job I spent four years in and I loved because I have to avoid all stress, and my diet has changed significantly – there’s a list of foods I can’t eat any more as long as my arm.”
In a bid to attempt to control her permanent dizziness, former charity worker Bobbie has been told to give up alcohol, chocolate, citrus fruits, dairy, bananas and many other foods.
Bobbie’s balance disorder is hopefully curable, but she has not been given any timeline on recovery.
She said: “Day-to-day I am on quite a lot of medication, my memory is pretty bad and I get really tired.
“My head feels like it is floating a lot. It’s a really hard thing to explain, I have never felt anything like it before.
“My balance is awful, I am doing physiotherapy to try and retrain it so it comes back.
“It affects my walking too, sometimes I will just be standing there and I will lose my balance for no reason.
“It is literally like I am drunk.”
Bobbie’s problems began in August last year, when she went on the Superbowl ride at her first ever music festival.
The teacup-style spins riders in separate carts, while being raised into the air on a giant ‘saucer.’
She said: “The ride was fun and terrifying all at the same time. I had been on something similar once before, so I didn’t think anything of it, really.
“I certainly don’t blame the fairground – unfortunately it’s just one of those things. I live in hope that one day I’ll recover and then I can get my old life back.”
Bobbie now hopes to start a charity to raise awareness of her little-known condition.
