Lauren Farley-Smith, 20, first showed symptoms of Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) when she hit puberty and still struggles with the condition - which cannot be cured

A young woman regularly risks choking to death due to a life-threatening condition which cannot be cured.

Lauren Farley-Smith, 20, from Durham, suffers from the little-known Hereditary Angioedema (HAE), which causes her throat and face to balloon when her body’s triggered by anxiety, physical touch or stress.

Lauren Farley-Smith’s face frequently swells to twice the size, due to the condition

Healthy: Lauren pictured as she normally is when not suffering an attack

The rare disorder, which she first experienced during puberty aged 13, is an inherited blood problem that also causes continuous vomiting as well as intense abdominal pain.

As a teenager, Lauren was in hospital almost twice a week and was often too poorly to leave the house.

Making matters worse, she was frequently the victim of cruel stares and comments from strangers, who had no appreciation of her torment.

“It has a big emotional impact on me,” she says. “At first I was very self-conscious about going out the house if my face swells. People would laugh at me and kids would cry when they saw me. I was on anti-depressants for a couple years. I felt very lonely and confused as to why it happened to me

“It was hard to explain to everyone and really took a toll on my social life – I felt isolated from my peers and I just thought I was a burden to my family.”

Unsurprisingly, the condition also affected her academic and professional life.

“I missed half a year of school because I was in and out of hospital,” she adds. “I’ve also been fired from jobs before because people think I am lying about it If my stomach swells I can’t go into work because I am physically sick for 48 hours.

“When I once went into work with a swollen face, I got laughed at by customers. Some people didn’t want to talk to me because they thought it was contagious.”

Consequently, Lauren fell into depression. Something that was no doubt intensified by the fact, for several years, doctors were baffled as to what caused the condition.

It was only during a holiday to Spain in 2012 – which saw her airlifted back to the UK during an outbreak  – that a Spanish doctor recommended she was tested for HAE.

People would laugh at me and kids would cry when they saw me. I was on anti-depressants for a couple years. I felt very lonely and confused as to why it happened to me

“It was difficult to understand, but a massive relief to finally have a diagnosis and start getting treatment that actually helped,” she said.

“My main triggers are stress and anxiety. It gets pretty bad. My throat can swell up when I am sleeping, so I wake up unable to breathe.

“Once someone stood on my foot at work and I couldn’t put my shoe on because it had swollen so much. I’ve got to be careful if I go out with friends, if I get shoved or pushed I have to go home immediately as it can cause an attack.

“I get stomach cramps and then the actual stomach swells, then I start vomiting – literally every six minutes until it’s just stomach acid.

“There’s always the danger of my tongue swelling, which is really dangerous as you can’t breathe. It takes a massive toll on me for a week.

Distressing: Lauren’s lower face suffers most of the swelling, often causing breathing difficulties

Extremities: The 20 year-old’s hands and feet also manifest the condition

Defiant: Laura is determined not to be defined by the condition – despite its challenging symptoms

However, last year Lauren vowed not to be beaten by the illness and in January she will begin a four week course to become a flight attendant.

Lauren said: “I’m trying my best to have control of it instead. I have always wanted to be cabin crew and I am going to follow my dream.”

Despite being incurable, Lauren takes tranexamic acid, practices meditation and has counselling to help with the symptoms.

“I try not to let it stop me getting on with things. You have for it rest of your life, there’s not point feeling sorry for yourself.”

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