DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Sergeant Cindy Smith of the Davidson Police Department thought she had the flu, but after a few days, she got a scary new symptom.

“My right leg went numb and then it started hurting. It felt like it was on fire. “Sunday morning I’m even worse. I couldn’t get out of the bed without my husband helping me.”

It would only get worse over the next few weeks. Smith nearly had to have a finger amputated after a blood clot cut off her circulation.

“The bottom of my right foot has been numb since November 9. They say the nerve may repair itself, the nerve may come back, but it could just take time.”

The one bright light in Smith’s fight is a team of doctors who finally diagnosed her with vasculitis, a nerve disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack blood vessels.

She’s taking medication and undergoing a weak form of chemotherapy to suppress her immune system.

“They say that I’ll probably have to do that once a year to every six months depending on how my body reacts to it. Unfortunately this is with me for life,” she said.

She also has friends for life at the Davidson Police Department.

 “We care about her. We love her. We support her and we just want her to get better. We had the support from the community. We had the support from the town. We have the prayers but financially we need to look at what we can do to help her so she can stay on recovery, physical therapy, and not worry about the financial burden,” said Detective Jay Stokes.

The North Carolina Police Benevolent Association set up a bank account where people could donate to Smith’s medical expenses. (Learn how you can donate here). 

“It’s been overwhelming. I really appreciate it. It’s really made this difficult time in my life a lot easier just to know that I have support from everyone. I became angry and it just gave me more incentive to want to beat it and come back stronger,” said Smith.