“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!”
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.”
“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.
Source: Wales Online
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