Elvis SAVED MY LIFE

Tina was at her lowest before she found love - with The King! Tina Alderson, 59

- Claudia Siron

Let's walk the dog!' I called out to my daughter, Sabrina, then 15.

Walking along the lush green footpath, our dog Ronnie barked excitedly as we arrived at the park.

It was July 2015, and life was sweet and simple.

Living with Sabrina, I'd often phone my daughter Carly, then 24, and chat with her, her daughter Breanna, six, and her baby Levi, one.

I'd also walk the 10 minutes to see my other girl Cammielle, then 19, and her little boy Brandon, three, for a cuppa at their home a few streets away.

I love being a grandma, I thought, happily.

In October that year, though, I woke up one morning with a painful shoulder.

My right arm was also badly swollen.

This doesn't seem right at all, I worried.

Later that month, I couldn't hold down food, and felt incredibly ill.

Visiting the doctors frequently, I got no answers.

They'd just brush me off, blaming my symptoms on anxiety.

Soon after, my legs ballooned and fluid began seeping from them.

And my feet erupted in blisters.

A month later, I was screaming out in pain.

By now, my legs were so swollen, I couldn't move them. Terrifyingly, I'd lost all feeling in them too.

By then, I'd also lost nine teeth, and more than half of my hair had fallen out.

I was a mess.

I'm dying in front of my daughter, I thought, miserable.

When the doctors came to my house to check on me, they'd just prescribe paracetamol.

In January 2016, in so much pain, I called an ambulance.

At the hospital, doctors found I had cellulitis - a bacterial skin infection on my legs, which explained the seeping fluid.