A STUMBLING mum who was accused of being drunk at the school gates was diagnosed with a rare and hidden illness that left her paralysed.

Charlotte Debieux, 25, feared allegations that she had been drinking could lead to her three-year-old daughter Poppy being taken from her.

But a month after the onset of her symptoms, which included feeling unsteady on her feet, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome – which affects one in a million people.

The autoimmune condition attacks the nerves causing problems such as numbness, weakness and pain in the feet, hands and limbs.

Charlotte said: "I'd been walking around for weeks, looking drunk. I was finding it hard to walk because my feet felt numb.

"My daughter's school was asking if I'd been drinking, and I was mortified. That was the point where I realised something was seriously wrong.

"After managing to stumble home I did cry, I was worried that I'd have social services or the police round.”

Charlotte’s symptoms began last August with numbness and back pain and initially baffled doctors, who thought she may be suffering from early onset Multiple Sclerosis.

As the pain gradually increased she began to have difficulty swallowing and was admitted to hospital the following month where her condition deteriorated – leaving her paralysed.

Her daughter Poppy was forced to move in with her grandmother Michelle Debieux, 44.

She recalled: "By the time my mum got to hospital I couldn't walk.

“In my private area, I couldn't feel anything.

"My feet and hands felt like pins and needles.

"My back pain was ridiculous."

"I managed to squeeze my hands but I had no strength.

"I was lying there like a shell.

"My brain had started to shut down my ability to swallow."

Charlotte was discharged in October, but has since been confined to a wheelchair.

She has also been forced to move to Gloucester, Glos. to be closer to her mother, who is caring for her and her daughter.

Charlotte said: "She's been run ragged. She's bringing up my daughter, and she's had to give up her job to look after us."

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She is hoping to make a full recovery, adding: "I have a lot of feeling now, but I just can't walk some days. Sometimes I lose feeling in my toes and fingers.

"I'm not strong at all so I'm working on the muscles I need most. I still need help bathing.

She added: "I just want to be able to pick my daughter up and swing her around in the summer."

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