Country music star Lisa McHugh has revealed the terrifying experience of suddenly losing the power in her legs, leaving her unable to walk for over a month. The 36-year-old singer credits her recovery to Irish bioenergy healer Michael O’Doherty, known for helping dancer Michael Flatley recover from a mystery illness in the early 2000s.
McHugh was hospitalized last June after her legs gave out without warning. Doctors diagnosed her with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), a condition that disrupts how the brain communicates with the body. It followed months of health issues and emotional strain.
The mother of two Milo, 4, and Hallie, 17 months, had earlier been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that causes severe facial pain. Her youngest daughter had also been seriously ill, battling RSV and bronchiolitis twice within a few months.
“Being on the road as a singer is tough, it’s long hours driving up and down the country, you’re eating out of garages, so you’re not getting beneficial nutrition,” McHugh told the Sunday World. “You are getting home in the middle of the night, so it’s broken sleep, and then you’re getting up early with the kids. The worry, the stress… everything combined over the last few years just brought my body to a complete halt.”
McHugh recalled the moment it all began. “It started June 28/29. I wasn’t feeling well, I had a flare-up of my trigeminal neuralgia that weekend… I had a Pilates class on Monday and I felt my balance was way off… Then I got a weakness in my left arm, so I immediately rang the doctor, who sent me straight to A&E.”
By the end of that week, her condition had worsened dramatically. “All of a sudden, my left leg felt very heavy, and I tried to lift it and move it and it just wouldn’t go anywhere,” she said. “During the examination, the doctor asked me to lift my right leg and I couldn’t lift that one. Both of them were gone in the space of a couple of hours.”
McHugh spent over a month unable to walk. “It was very scary because you don’t know what lies ahead,” she said. “My family were terrified… they didn’t know if I was going to walk again.”
Her husband Nathan and both their families supported her through the ordeal. “There was a lot of pressure on him,” she admitted. “We definitely couldn’t have got through it all without the help of my family and Nathan’s family and friends.”
Now on the road to recovery, McHugh says the experience has given her a new perspective — and a deep appreciation for her health, family, and the healing process.
