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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

Girl, 4, with condition so rare it doesn't have a name could stop breathing anytime

A four-year-old baby could stop breathing anytime due to a rare condition that doctors are yet to name it.

Levi Byrne was diagnosed with an unpredictable type of epilepsy triggering many different types of seizures earlier this year.

Recently her skin turned blue, she stopped breathing and went into complete tonic seizures as her muscles tensed up.

The incident was triggered by a virus and a high temperature and the young girl had to be taken to hospital immediately, Wales Online reports.

Mum Charlene said: "It happened that quick that she flew out of my arms and landed face down on the sofa.

She had her first seizure when she was two years old (Wales Online WS)

"I was patting her saying, 'Levi, Levi are you ok?' and there was no reply. She was just completely stiff with back arched.

"I tried to roll her over and her lips were blue and she wasn't breathing. As soon as I saw how lifeless she was I just shouted at my husband to phone an ambulance."

"As soon as she came around her first words were 'I'm going to be sick' and started to vomit.

"While vomiting she had another seizure like that because she was rigid and going blue again.

"There was mucus coming out of her nose with blood in it and I actually thought this is it, she's gone.

Levi and her family (Wales Online WS)

"She was pretty much grey and mottled blue, she was in and out of consciousness and was shaking, like she was in shock. Her skin was freezing.

"It was terrifying and hopefully we will never have to experience anything like that again, but with it being an unusual type of epilepsy, nobody really knows how it will progress over time."

The young girl first fell ill when she was just two years old and had some episodes where her head dropped to one side.

At first her parents thought it was likely an ear infection but took Levi to see her GP after she lost all muscle tone in her upper body and fell face forward to the floor.

The baby girl in hospital (Wales Online WS)

The condition became more serious and at one point the baby was having around 200 episodes each day.

Charlene said: "The most obvious sign was the dropping on one side, but she did have occasions of eyes rolling, body jerks, head going backwards with chewing expressions and gulping sounds. Sometimes she was aware during them, other times she wasn't."

"Her blood work was sent all around the UK which all came back normal. She was a little mystery."

After 15 months, Charlene and dad Andrew were told Levi suffered with Tourette's Syndrome and a rare form of epilepsy, both of which could intertwine, making it difficult for them to differentiate between the two.

Levi with her siblings Oakley and Miley (Wales Online WS)

"It is all still relatively new to us and we are learning as we go, but so far we have learnt that there isn't actually a name for her epilepsy and it's a mixture of different seizures.

"Some are focal seizures (one part of the brain affected at that time) and others are generalized (the whole brain affected)," added the mum of three who lives in Pembroke Dock, Wales.

Levi's parents are now trying to educate other people on the fact that epilepsy can take many different forms.

"There's such a big misconception about the word epilepsy and seizures and people automatically think that the person drops to the floor shaking. We used to think that way, but we learn more as the days go by."

"Prior to this we took each day as it came. Although she had days that were worse than others, we felt as though we could cope.

"Going on family days out can be a struggle because walking can make her so tired and then little absences start to creep in. Every epileptic person's story is unique to them."

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