"THIS has taken me away from my children. I'm not able to be the mum that I should be emotionally and physically. This has been completely life-changing for me and my family."

A mother-of-three has spoken of the 'astronomical' struggle she has been through after she suffered a blood clot on her brain which she believes led to a stroke.

After collapsing on her kitchen floor on April 16, Natalie Simpson, 38, was rushed to Dorset County Hospital where she spent two weeks before being transferred to Yeatman Hospital in Sherborne where she stayed for four weeks.

She has since returned to her home in Westham, Weymouth, where she lives with her three children, aged five, 11 and 18. But her life is a shadow of what it once was.

Natalie said: "This has been an awful situation and completely life-changing. My left arm doesn't work, I'm not able to drive, I can't dress myself or my kids, I'm still numb in my face on the left-hand side, I have to use a walking stick in the house and a mobility scooter because I can't get out the house without it.

"I have never suffered from health problems before except the occasional migraine. This is astronomical compared to a migraine."

The single mum now has carers that come in twice a day - once in the morning to help her get dressed and once in the afternoon to help her make dinner safely for her children. She has also been forced to rely heavily on her family for help and support.

She said: "I haven't coped well emotionally. I have dark hours and dark days because I can't tie up my little girl's hair anymore, I can't tidy the house, and I have to depend on people a lot which I have never done as I've always been an independent person."

Natalie suffered from the blood clot two weeks after she received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination, which stopped being the recommended vaccine for people aged under 40 in May, although there is no proof the two are in any way linked.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) currently advises that it is preferable for adults aged less than 30 years without underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 disease, to be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine, if available.

Natalie said: "I am seeing a consultant next month and hopefully they will be able to find out if this happened because of the vaccine. If that is the case, it will be tough to take because I was just doing what I thought was best for myself and the rest of the country and now I'm left with life-changing consequences.

"I have got to accept what has happened and grieve the life that I had so I can find a way to fight forward and learn a new normal. We all had to learn how to be isolated in lockdown and now I'm isolated within my own body."

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) currently advises that it is preferable for adults aged less than 30 years without underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 disease, to be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine, if available.

"People may make an informed choice to receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to receive earlier protection.

"Since the launch of the Covid-19 immunisation campaign we have been proactively monitoring the safety of all approved Covid-19 vaccines for near real-time safety monitoring at population level.

"Our adverse reaction assessment report can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting

"Vaccine safety is of paramount importance and we continually monitor the safety of vaccines to ensure that the benefits outweigh any potential risks. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) encourages anyone to report any suspicion or concern they have beyond the known, mild side effects on the Coronavirus Yellow Card site. Reporters do not need to be sure of a link between a vaccine and a suspected side effect but are still encouraged to report."