Emma was on holiday with her family two days before she developed Bell's palsy Have you heard of Bell’s palsy? I certainly hadn’t, until it paralysed one side of my face. My eldest son and I were in the garden in our pyjamas, picking blackberries. It was a lovely summer’s morning and we’d just come home from a family holiday in France. My husband, Will, was taking photos of us but I couldn’t smile properly. It was the strangest feeling. I ignored it, as busy mums of small children often do with things concerning themselves, but the right side of my face felt heavier and when I looked in the mirror, my eyebrow had dropped and my mouth was lopsided.