A FORMER triathlete struck down with multiple sclerosis has just returned from a month in Mexico for a pioneering treatment.

Johanna Barkwith, from Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, spent £50,000 on the trip in the hope it will reverse the condition.

The stem cell and chemotherapy treatment, which “resets” the immune system, is believed to be able to stop, or even reverse, the progressive illness gradually. It is not available on the NHS.

Ms Barkwith returned from Mexico earlier this month and said she can already feel the tips of her fingers again - something which had been preventing her from writing.

She said: “It has been fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I have got more energy than I had before I went.

“I can feel my fingers, I can walk further than I could before, my balance is better, my handwriting is better.

“I can ride my bike, and walk after I get off it, which is something I haven’t been able to for months now.

“I took my bike out for a four mile bike ride. “

The 43-year-old was diagnosed 13 years ago and for eight years after diagnosis she still competed in five to six triathlons a year, did open water swimming, cycled and rode her horse.

But her disease progressed to the point where she could no longer ride, swim, walk a long way, or even type – and, after having read about the Mexico clinic, decided to go ahead.

The breakthrough treatment – hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) involves aggressive chemotherapy to almost obliterate the immune system, before stem cells are transplanted to perform a reset on the patient’s immunity.

MS is measured on a scale of one to ten, with nine or ten being double incontinent and bed-ridden, with no function.

Ms Barkwith, an intelligence officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, had considered hers to be about one to 1.5 – but she said it still stopped her doing the things she wanted to do.

She spent four weeks in a private clinic in Mexico having the treatment, and even had time to go sightseeing in between treatments with the friends she had taken with her, as carers.

She said: “I had such a positive experience. It really isn’t a third world country, it was the best healthcare I have ever experienced – and I worked in the NHS for 25 years.

“It was even better than our private hospitals in the UK.

“It was super clean, efficient, second-to-none.”

Ms Barkwith spent £38,000 on the HSCT treatment itself, £10,000 on the flights for her and four friends to accompany her for a week each, and £1,200 for an MRI before she left.

The NHS would not pay for it because it was part of a private treatment overseas. She also spent another few hundred pounds on blood tests and infection-fighting drugs.

MS is an immune system malfunction, and it attacks the nervous system, meaning patients gradually lose function in their limbs, heart, breathing, bowel, bladder and even their brain.

Anyone who wants to ask Ms Barkwith about the treatment can contact her on gingerjo1973@gmail.com