28-year-old Rebecca
Morris-Roberts suffers an extremely rare condition which stops her heart and
breathing until she is technically dead. But seconds later, her body manages to
'jump-start' itself, bringing Rebecca back to life.
She has suffered reflex
anoxic seizures - thought to affect only four people in the UK - since she was
a teenager. And they are usually brought on by a bout of nerves.
“My eyes roll up into my
head, my lips and face turn grey, my body stiffens, I stop breathing and begin
to convulse,” she said.
“When I go through it
I’m out for the count and I don’t know anything about it until I come around.
My body somehow ‘defibs’ itself. It’s such an unusual condition and I have no
idea what causes it. I do something even superheroes can’t do – I regenerate!”
So when she decided to
tie the knot with long-term boyfriend Elfyn Morris-Roberts in April 2014, her
family feared she might “die” walking down the aisle.
After much deliberation Rebecca, decided to have a pacemaker fitted just three
months before the big day.
“I didn’t initially want
to have it. From the age of 16 to 21, I was told by various doctors that I was
making it up and being a drama queen,” said Rebecca, who is originally from
Wrexham.
“So when I was diagnosed
with reflex anoxic seizures I finally felt like I’d taken control. Mentally, I
wasn’t ready for a pacemaker. I didn’t want to look back at our wedding photos
and think something else was helping me live. But then I was told that every
time I had an episode it would diminish my chances of recovery by 10%. I was
living on borrowed time. That’s when I realised I was being selfish so I
decided to have it fitted – 54 years earlier than the average pacemaker.”
Adrenaline junkie
Rebecca, who has worked as an outdoor activity specialist and loves canoeing
and abseiling, said her wedding day went by without needing to call the
paramedics.
“I have always had a
fear of being in front of people and my father followed me around the whole
venue because he feared something would happen,” she added.
“But I was completely
relaxed. I was so proud to be sat at the top table looking at all the people
who had been brought together. They all know what I’m going through and they
didn’t pity me. I didn’t have to hide anything from them. It was incredible.”
Former student Rebecca
met love-of-her-life Elfyn during her time studying for a degree at Bangor
University.
“I had been with him for
eight months and then I was diagnosed so he was really thrown in at the deep
end,” she joked.
“He’s found me after a
few episodes but he’s only properly seen one. We share a bed together and when
my breathing gets shallow he frantically wakes me up asking if I’m okay.
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