Bulli motor neurone disease sufferer Sharn McNeill has gained a "new lease on life" thanks to a revolutionary form of nanotherapy developed by a French biomedical expert.
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The 32-year-old travelled to France with her husband Russell last November to take part in a clinical trial of the new treatment in an effort to stop the debilitating neurological disease in its tracks.
Ms McNeill was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of MND two years ago, causing her mobility and speech to slowly deteriorate. However six months after starting the new regime, hope abounds.
"Within myself I can confidently say that I feel like the progression of the disease has been paused," she said.
"My speech has become noticeably clearer and picked up speed, my facial muscles feel stronger and my leg strength is improving.
"I've been told that the next thing I should notice is improved respiratory function and upper limb strength.
"It's certainly given me a new lease on life. I feel like I've been given a second chance and I'm grabbing it with both hands - even if those hands are a bit wonky at the moment."
Ms McNeill said blood and neurological tests were also showing improvement, however she was proceeding with caution.
"The improvements are not always consistent, or permanent, so while I can say that this treatment is working for me at this point I don't want to claim that it's a cure [for MND]," she said.
"However since I was diagnosed two years ago I vowed to fight this thing and do anything I could to find something that would halt the progress or even cure this disease."
Ms McNeill, a former nurse, and her paramedic husband were looking into a range of international clinical trials into MND before they were contacted by Macquarie University Professor Gilles Guillemin.
Prof Guillemin told them of a new frontier in the treatment of MND, a disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, overseas.
Endotherapia - or multivalent nanotherapy - was developed by French professor Michel Geffard to treat chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis but was also proving beneficial for sufferers of MND.
"We travelled to Bordeaux and met with Professor Geffard and the results from trials were so positive, with no known adverse side effects, so we decided to give it a shot," Ms McNeill said.
"The aim of the treatment is to tackle the damaging side effects of conditions such as MND by supporting the immune system.
"The nano-carrier allows the tailor-made vitamins, fatty acids and amino acid compounds straight to the source of the problem to protect and repair the motor neurons."
Prof Guillemin told the Mercury he was encouraged by Ms McNeill's results and was now trying to raise funds to conduct a clinical trial of endotherapia in Australia.
This would allow Ms McNeill, and other MND sufferers, to have the treatment without travelling to France.
Follow Ms McNeill's inspirational journey at shining4sharn.com.au.
