Watch the woman who woke up with half her face paralyzed

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A 40-year-old mother went to bed thinking she had a cough but woke up with half her face paralyzed.

Vhari King lives with her husband Dan and two children Lucia, 8, and Byron, 5, in Horsford, Norwich.

Vhari woke up with half her face paralyzed and thought she was having a stroke.

Vhari – a cardiology nurse at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital – had a cough before half her face was paralyzed. But she didn’t think much of it until her face was left paralyzed.

Vhari said: “I had no idea what was going on, I just thought I had to get on with it. I couldn’t drink my coffee, it was just dribbling out of my mouth and when I was trying to do my mascara to get ready for work, it just wouldn’t go on – my eye was so irritated.”

Doctors diagnosed Vhari with Ramsay Hunt syndrome which causes facial paralysis.

Vhari, a mother-of-two said all she had was a sore throat but she didn’t think anything of it.

She said: “I just thought I should take some painkillers because when I had a look in my mouth I couldn’t see anything wrong – I saw these tiny blisters but you just don’t think.”

“And then I was driving on my way back from work and I was drinking a can of Irn-Bru and I was thinking this just isn’t tasting right, it was like the flavour just wasn’t there.”

When she woke up the following day, she couldn’t move the right side of her face.

She was so scared as she had no idea what was going on. Her eye was so irritated and it couldn’t stop watering.

Still, she went to work but when she was drinking her coffee, it was going all over her face. She was unable to talk and smile. She thought she was having a stroke.

When she visited the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with Ramsey Hunt syndrome.

She said: “I remember asking the doctor if I would be able to smile again and he couldn’t give me an answer, I just burst into tears.”

Vhari now wants to raise awareness about the condition.

Vhari, who also runs an online makeup business called Younique, said: “I would really like to raise awareness about this because it affected me working.”

“How could I show people what makeup I loved when I hated my face and hid from the world.”