ON the surface, Anya Darlow seemed like a typical teenager, navigating the same pressures as most people her age – school, dating, and the trials and tribulations of adolescence.
However, behind closed doors, Anya was fighting a debilitating mental health condition that would lead to a split-second decision to leap from a 13ft high window – changing her life forever.
Anya Darlow is now paralysed from the waist down – but that’s not stopped her from living life to the fullestCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
To the outside world, Anya was an ordinary teenager, but behind the scenes, she was battling a spiralling health conditionCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
In an emotional chat with The Sun, Anya says things first got difficult when she hit puberty.
The 27-year-old from Lincolnshire says: “I began struggling with depression and anxiety.
“At 13, I was already seeing a counsellor, and by 15, I developed an eating disorder and became fixated on food and exercise. But at 17, everything escalated. I was very suicidal.”
Negative thoughts took over every corner of Anya’s mind, trapping her in an endless cycle of doubt and fear.
She says: “I was plagued with nightmarish thoughts and mental images that made me question my own morality.
“They were constant and distressing, and I couldn’t switch them off.”
The weight of academic pressure started to crush Anya from the inside.
Once confident and high-achieving, she began to retreat into herself, skipping classes, losing interest in the things she loved, and acting in ways that left friends and family quietly alarmed.
She says: “I was crying in class for no reason, skipping school, and struggling socially. I became a shell of myself. My grades slipped, and I couldn’t cope with everyday interactions.”
Even with doctors and therapists involved, the depth of Anya’s struggles went unnoticed, her pain and suffering quietly slipping through the cracks.
She added: “I just needed the pain to stop.”
‘I needed to end it’
Everything came to a head in June 2015.
Anya woke to a relentless barrage of voices in her head telling her she was “monstrous and immoral”, thoughts that quickly intensified and spiralled into overwhelming suicidal urges.
“I woke up and immediately felt my mind flood with horrid intrusive thoughts,” she says. “I needed to end it.”
Consumed by a desperate need to escape, Anya ran to her mum’s bedroom window.
Glancing down at the garden and briefly thinking the grass below might break her fall, she returned to her own bedroom window, where hard concrete lay beneath.
Then, in a split second that changed everything, she hurled herself backwards from the ledge.
“I didn’t think about height or danger,” says Anya.
“I just needed the pain to stop. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
The fall did not end her life, but she was left with a T12 complete spinal cord injury – it cut off all movement and sensation below the waist, leaving her paralysed.
Anya was fortunate to survive the fallCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
Anya talks openly about sex with her partner, Ryan VaceyCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
Lying in her hospital bed, Anya felt surprisingly calm, and when doctors told her she would never walk again, her reaction surprised even her family.
She says: “I remember thinking, ‘Accept what you’ve done. You need to get better’.
“My family couldn’t believe how calm I was. It didn’t last forever, but in that moment, I knew I had to survive and deal with what I’d done.”
But Anya’s road to recovery was long and gruelling.
Anya spent four months in hospital before moving to a specialist spinal unit for another two – every day was a lesson in relearning, from basic tasks to building strength and mobility in her wheelchair.
I don’t want sex for wheelchair users to be a taboo subject
Anya Darlow
“My bladder had to be retrained,” she says. “I used catheters. Sitting upright felt odd, and my back was under constant strain. It was surreal.”
Over the months that followed, Anya began to heal, not just physically, but mentally too.
Today, she says, living as a paraplegic has changed the way she sees herself, reshaping her sense of strength, identity, and what she’s capable of.
“It becomes part of who you are,” she admits.
Anya spent several months in hospital recovering from her fallCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
Anya charts her journey through social mediaCredit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press
“Every day, my physical challenges are obvious. Sometimes it hurts knowing I did this to myself, but I have to keep moving.”
Five months after the accident, Anya finally received the diagnosis that explained years of silent suffering.
Doctors said she had Purely Obsessional OCD (Pure O) – a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder where the mind is driven by intrusive thoughts, paired with invisible mental compulsions, endless analysing, checking, and ruminating that can consume every waking moment.
She says: “It helped me understand myself for the first time.”
Later, Anya also learned she was autistic, adding another piece to the puzzle of understanding herself.
“I’ve learned that my brain just works differently,” she says. “That knowledge has helped me prioritise my mental health.”
Today, Anya leads a full and active life.
She plays wheelchair basketball, cherishes time with her family, and dotes on her pug, Bettie.
She recently got a degree in Education and, after working as a teaching assistant, has chosen to pursue content creation full-time – a path she was encouraged to follow by her boyfriend, Ryan Vacey, who she met eight months ago.
Through her social media channels, Anya’s Life, she shares her experiences of living with a disability.
“Finding Ryan has really helped me believe in myself,” she says. “We have a wonderful relationship based on trust, communication and love.”
She also speaks openly about sex after spinal injury, a topic she refuses to keep hidden or taboo.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
She added: “I am just as passionate about intimacy as I was before my injury.
“My sex drive has never stopped, and I’ve definitely found ways around all barriers.”
Through her platforms, Anya is equally candid about mental health and survival.
“I’ve learned to live every day like it’s my last,” she says.
“When you’re in that place, harming yourself can feel like the only escape. But it isn’t.
“My story is about mental and physical rehabilitation, strength, patience, and awareness. Pure OCD is serious, and it can cost lives. If sharing my journey can help even one person, then everything I’ve been through was worth it.”
Anya Darlow at home with her dog in June 2025Credit: Anya Darlow/Hype Press