New MSP's extraordinary journey from being 'bedbound' to being elected to Holyrood

However, she is now “pinching” herself after becoming a new Liberal Democrat MSPs for the Highlands and Islands.

Since she was 14 years old, Ms MacCallum has suffered from Lyme disease which at points left her so sick she struggled to even get out of bed. However, she has managed to turn her life around after getting diagnosed by specialists in the US and Germany.

“It took years and years to be diagnosed, unfortunately,” she told The Scotsman. “My mum is a nurse and she just knew what they were saying was not right and didn’t fit me.

“She did a colossal amount of research into every illness with my symptoms and went through them one by one and ended up with Lyme disease.

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“She discovered the blood test for it is not accurate so she took me to private specialists who sent my blood to America and Germany who came back with Lyme disease.”

Her early symptoms were similar to a severe flu, including joint pain, stiffness, severe mental and physical fatigue and memory issues. But over the years this was misdiagnosed as glandular fever, various different infections, ME and chronic fatigue.

Ms MacCallum said: “It was frustrating because they were not listening to me, just listening to my symptoms that fitted what they thought was the diagnosis, not what was actually happening to me.

“They were just not interested in what I was telling them, and it was difficult having to wait more than six weeks between appointments.

“It was also very challenging and disheartening for my mum who had worked in the NHS for a long time and felt like she was being dismissed - that was upsetting for her to have the organisation she had given her life to turn their backs on her.”

Ms MacCallum said it is difficult to reconcile the person she is now to the person she was at her lowest point.

“I spent a lot of time housebound and bedbound,” she said. “I could barely walk from my bedroom to the bathroom and back. It was a really difficult time.

“It is hard to reconcile in my head the version of me that was so sick to who I am now.

“I am incredibly fortunate to have been able to access the treatment I have thanks to the huge sacrifice from my family and I am so grateful for all they’ve given up to keep me alive.

“I’m still pinching myself because it doesn’t seem real.

“I am still ill, it still affects every aspect of my life, so I am going to have to find a way of working with this illness while doing this new role.”

Over the next five years, she said it would be “neglectful” not to campaign for better diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses that experience “medical short-sightedness” such as Long Covid.

After trying to raise awareness of Lyme disease and writing two books on her own experience, Ms MacCallum then fell into politics “accidentally”. She became a Highland councillor in 2022 and an MSP at the election last month.

She said: “I became well known in the community so when the council elections came along the Lib Dems asked me to stand and they sounded like a great bunch of people, and they fitted with how I felt on a number of things.

“I also remember Charles Kennedy coming to our school and having lunch with us. He was so warm and welcoming and seemed genuinely interested in us, which is what politics should be about.

“That early experience of politics was a big influence.”

Ms MacCallum is planning to stay on as a Highland councillor as well until next year’s local elections, as she has many long-term projects nearing an end - but is not taking home two salaries.