In November 2025, Albury Hospital emergency nurse Charlotte Todros was living a life built around movement.
She had transformed her health years earlier starting with the very first City2City Run Walk in 2015, losing 50 kilos, discovering strength training, and eventually competing — and winning — on bodybuilding stages in Australia and overseas.
But just days after returning from a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas last year, everything changed.
“I’d been feeling a bit flat and weak, which I thought was just jet lag. Then I woke up on the Sunday morning and I couldn’t feel my legs,” she said.
What she first thought could be a pinched nerve from her gym workouts quickly became something far more serious. Tests confirmed Guillain-Barré Syndrome – a rare neurological condition where the body attacks its own nervous system.
She was transferred to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she was treated. “At this stage, I was barely walking,” she said.
After a brief return home to Albury, her condition worsened and she couldn’t stand or move independently. She was readmitted as the paralysis progressed up towards her diaphragm, eventually threatening her ability to breathe. Over eight weeks in hospital, she was bedbound, then wheelchair-bound, before eventually returning home barely able to walk.
“I went from being independent, strong and active to needing a wheelie walker.”
Relearning how to move
When she was finally discharged home, recovery didn’t end – it began. Back in Albury, she was connected with Albury Wodonga Health’s Allied Health community rehabilitation team, working closely with physiotherapist Teagan twice a week in the hospital gym.
“Rehab is a lot of balance work. Standing on one leg and catching balls. It’s about teaching your brain to do more than one thing again,” Charlotte said.
Even now, she still experiences numbness in her feet, pins and needles in her hands, and significant fatigue. But with consistent Allied Health support, she progressed to walking independently.
Just months earlier, neurologists had estimated it could take six to twelve months before she’d walk independently. Now, she’s back at work in the Albury Emergency Department.
“I can walk on my own now. That’s huge,” she said. “I’ve just returned to ED. I need to sit down more than usual and am focusing on managing fatigue, but I’m back in scrubs.”
Why Allied Health matters
As both a patient and a nurse, Charlotte has seen firsthand how vital Allied Health is and how often it goes unnoticed.
“Allied Health are the unsung heroes in preventing people from being readmitted to hospital. They’re the glue that gets you back to health,” she said. “What I've been able to achieve with Teagan is absolutely incredible.”
Charlotte also saw the challenges teams face: limited space, aging equipment, and having to get creative with what’s available.
“For someone like me, who was an athlete, the equipment was very basic. But they made it work. They always do.”
It’s one of the reasons she wanted to share her story, and why she’s encouraging the community to support SS&A City2City.
Walking for those still rebuilding
This year, Charlotte plans to take part in SS&A City2City’s 7.5km Walk & Talk on Sunday, February 22.
“I don’t care how long it takes me. After everything that’s happened, walking 7.5km will be an achievement in itself,” she said.
Funds raised through SS&A City2City go directly back into AWH’s Allied Health services to support the people, programs and equipment that help patients rebuild strength, independence and confidence after illness or injury.
“Not many people realise how important rehab is to get back to your baseline. Allied Health is how you get back to your life,” said Charlotte.
For her, that means walking around ED again – not as a patient, but as a nurse. And for others, it could be the first step back to independence.
Register now for the SS&A City2City Run Walk on Sunday, February 22! Go to www.city2city.org.au