‘I was rushed to hospital with sepsis… the hardest part of all is the mum guilt’ – country music star Lisa McHugh

Singer says disappearing out of her children’s lives for hospital care ‘breaks my heart’

Country music star Lisa McHugh is recovering at home after another traumatic health setback.

Mum-of-two Lisa (38) was rushed to hospital last week after falling ill and was diagnosed with sepsis, a severe and potentially life-threatening condition triggered by infection.

It is the latest blow to the popular entertainer, who lost the power in her legs two years ago and had to learn how to walk again after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), a condition that affects how the brain and nervous system works.

Country star Lisa McHugh

She had hoped to resume her singing career supporting Nathan Carter at a concert in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, on February 12 last but was forced to cancel her appearance on the sold-out show.

“Looks like my New Year is starting in March instead,” Lisa told fans on her social media as she revealed that she was back in hospital.

Apart from stalling her career while she recovered, Lisa has been more concerned about the impact it might have had on her two young children, Milo, aged four, and 18-month-old Hallie.

“The hardest part of all has been the guilt,” Lisa says. “This is at least the sixth time in the last 18 months I’ve had to suddenly disappear for days, sometimes weeks, without being able to explain anything to Milo. That part breaks my heart more than anything.”

Before discovering that she had Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) last July, Lisa had been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia after complaining of severe facial pain.

Singer Lisa McHughabout being diagnosed with FND.

It happened following many months of stress in her life after baby daughter Hallie was taken to hospital suffering from the RSV virus and bronchiolitis in November 2024 and again in January of last year. Hallie was later diagnosed with an iron deficiency.

Looking back on the frenetic period before her collapse, Lisa told us: “Being on the road as a singer is tough, it’s long hours driving up and down the country, you’re eating out of garages, so you’re not getting beneficial nutrition.

“You are getting home in the middle of the night, so it’s broken sleep, and then you’re getting up early with the kids.

“We had a very stressful time with Hallie since she was born as we were in and out of hospitals with her. The worry, the stress… everything combined over the last few years just brought my body to a complete halt.”

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Lisa said that in July of last year she was at home with her parents when “all of a sudden my left leg felt very heavy and I tried to lift it and move it and it just wouldn’t go anywhere.”

She continued: “My mum took me up to the hospital straight away and things just progressed pretty quickly. During the examination the doctor asked me to lift my right leg and I couldn’t lift that one.

“Both of them were gone in the space of a couple of hours. That was me from then until August 2, a month of not being able to walk.

“It was very scary because you don’t know what lies ahead, what your future is going to look like, especially with the kids and family and work.

“When you’re the one going through it, it can sometimes be easier than looking on. My family were terrified, they were worried, they didn’t know if I was going to walk again. They didn’t know what they could do to help.

“You accept you’ve been dealt these cards and you just have to get on with it. At the same time I never once doubted that I would walk again. I kept that in my mind and I think that stood to me, having a positive mental attitude.

“It was very hard for my husband Nathan. I had a very tough 10 days in hospital. I was in severe pain, I was on morphine and so many drugs for the pain alone, and they weren’t even touching the pain.

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“Looking on and not being able to do anything, I’m sure was kinda worse in one sense for him, feeling helpless. He also had to pick up the reins and deal with everything as regard to the kids and the house and trying to look after me and keep everything and everyone afloat. There was a lot of pressure on him.

“And we definitely couldn’t have got through it all without the help of my family and Nathan’s family and friends.

“Hallie, she is too young, but Milo is at that stage where he knew something was wrong. I said to him at the beginning, ‘my legs are sleeping.’

“He would then ask every other day, ‘are your legs waking up yet, Mummy? I’ll help you up the stairs.’ He has been great.”

Cuddling her two young children in a social media post at the weekend, Lisa was a picture of happiness. “So happy to be finally at home with my babies and feeling a lot better,” she said.