A woman battled seizures, extreme fatigue and memory loss for five years because of a wooden splinter embedded in her foot.

Billie J Bedser, 32, stepped on a stick while walking barefoot in her garden during the 2020 COVID lockdown.

She managed to remove part of it herself but could still feel something lodged inside.

Billie consulted a doctor who performed an X-ray and assured her there was nothing left inside.

However, in 2022, Billie began experiencing symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, constant fatigue, chronic insomnia and memory problems.

She consulted several doctors over the years, all of whom failed to identify the cause of her symptoms.

By 2024, Billie's condition had severely deteriorated and she began experiencing seizures.

In March this year, Billie was finally able to get an ultrasound and CT scan, which revealed a 2cm-long wooden splinter embedded deep in her left foot.

Billie, a DJ and producer from Arundel, Gold Coast, Australia, said: "To anyone feeling unheard or dismissed, keep going."

"You know your body. "

"If something feels wrong, trust it."

" I lost five years of my life because I was told it was anxiety, depression, insomnia and what not."

"But I'm finally on the path forward."

After Billie injured herself during the COVID lockdown in 2020, she consulted a GP, who carried out an X-ray.

The X-ray didn't reveal anything and the GP told her that if something was lodged in her foot "it would come out naturally."

But Billie wasn't fully convinced and knew something wasn't right.

She said: "It went in through the bottom of my foot."

"I was in pain, I couldn't walk properly and my foot was swollen, but the doctor didn't take me seriously."

"Instead of an ultrasound, they ordered an X-ray, which doesn't even pick up wood."

Billie consulted another GP, who misdiagnosed the swelling as a ganglion cyst, something she repeatedly insisted it wasn't.

Billie says that despite numerous visits to hospitals and clinics, doctors repeatedly dismissed her symptoms as psychosomatic, blaming anxiety or depression.

She said: "I kept saying something was seriously wrong, but no one listened."

Billie's condition had deteriorated so severely by 2024 that she could no longer work.

She said: "I went from playing multiple gigs to being completely bedridden."

"My nervous system was collapsing."

"I lost all muscle tone."

"I was experiencing seizures and couldn't even string thoughts together."

The turning point came just before Christmas last year when Billie had a seizure mid-set.

Billie said: "I couldn't hide it anymore."

"I felt helpless."

Billie was finally able to get an ultrasound and CT scan in March, which revealed a 2cm-long wooden splinter in her foot.

The surgeon who operated found that the wood had traveled up into her bone instead of being pushed out.

Doctors also discovered the fragment had caused a fungal bone infection, which had likely triggered the neurological symptoms.

Billie said: "I was stunned and furious."

"I finally had the validation I'd been fighting for."

"The wood had fungus in it, which led to a bone infection and disrupted my entire nervous system."

"Over time, it killed the bone off."

"Everything suddenly made sense."

Billie is now facing a long recovery process, including treatment for nerve damage and systemic inflammation.

She said: "I'm still in a lot of pain, and fatigue is constant, but I finally have clarity."

"I finally know it wasn't all in my head."

"It was real—every symptom."