A BRAVE mum who suffers from migraines that mirror symptoms of a stroke has bounced back from severe mental health issues to take on a sky dive.

Audrey Short will leap out a plane from 10,000ft after she was struck down with crippling headaches, that left medics fearing she’d had a bleed in her brain.

The former care worker has endured a three-year fight to get support for depression and anxiety brought on by a traumatic past.

But with support from Ayr Action for Mental Health who she is raising funds for via the sky dive, she hopes to raise more awareness, after the NHS turned their back on her.

The 47-year-old has told how suicidal thoughts were thrown back as her ‘own fault’ as she pleaded with a mental health nurse for support.

Now, thanks to intensive one on one sessions with a support worker at Ayr Action, she has boosted her self-esteem to rise to the challenge, and she can’t wait to parachute to the ground in June.

Spirited Audrey told the Advertiser: “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I can’t wait. I’ve been through quite a lot, overcome quite a lot. Now I just want to give something back.”

Audrey was struck down with Hemiplegic migraines whilst out at work five years ago, the symptoms first started with an extreme headache and by the next day her speech was slurred and she had numbness down one side of her body.

The mum was rushed to hospital, where doctors feared she had suffered a stroke, but after weeks of scans and vigorous tests discovered she had migraines.

Audrey said: “I was out working. I just felt really not well. It was an extreme headache. I went home but when I woke up the next day, I knew something wasn’t right. I phoned my doctor; she said my speech was slurred. By the time paramedics came out I had no feeling down one side of my body.”

“There’s no cure for them. I would not wish them on my worst enemy.”

The debilitating stroke-like attacks meant that Audrey had to give up her job as a carer after 20 years.

The time off work, coupled with her condition led to a rapid decline in her mental health, as she became deeply depressed and she endured flash backs of a traumatic past.

Audrey said: “I just went into deep depression. I felt really low and I lost all motivation and because I was kept busy, I could shut everything out, everything was pushed away.”

Audrey discovered Ayr Action for Mental Health whilst out in the town one day.

The organisation has since helped her transform her life, with manager Tracey Gilmour having an positive influence on her recovery.

Audrey hopes to one day become a care worker when she gets back to full fitness.

And she has urged anyone who has struggled with mental health that they can and will get better.

She said: “It doesn’t matter how low you get; you can beat it. You can get there. I never thought I would be where I am today. Not even my doctor thought I would improve this much.

“I have built up my confidence and my self esteem, I am getting so much more support and I am getting my voice heard now.

“It’s so important to speak to someone and ask for help. You need to take that first step to ask for help.

“They (Ayr Action for Mental Health) will help you. A lot of people don’t know what it offers. A lot of people don’t realise, but they will help you.”

Audrey hopes to raise £1,000 for the donation funded organization and will take on the sky dive in June at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire.