A TEENAGER who suffers from a rare condition that causes her extreme pain has fulfilled her dream of attending a school prom.
Kezia Rees, 16, has Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), an agonising disorder known as ‘the suicide disease’ which on the McGill Pain Index Chart ranks higher than cancer, childbirth and amputation.
The debilitating condition, which forces Kezia to use a wheelchair and leaves her in agony with 'stabbing and burning pains' every day, meant she had to move to The Quay School in Parkstone and she feared her one wish of going to the prom would not be possible.
However thanks to her mum Beverley, scooter club Wessex Roadrunners and her former school Lytchett Minster School, she was invited to experience the special event with her date Dillon.
The scooter enthusiast said: “I really didn’t think I would be able to go and though the condition affects every part of my life, it was the one thing that upset me most because it is one of those big experiences.
“To go and to just be me, to be a normal teenage girl and forget about my disability was amazing.
“I felt like Cinderella and I want to say a huge thank you to people who made it possible.”
Kezia began suffering from CRPS after she was involved in a car crash aged 10.
CRPS is a rare neurological disorder which involves the vascular, immune and nervous systems and can be triggered by a trauma or injury.
It means nerves send constant pain signals to the brain long after original injuries have healed.
Kezia explained her body also suffers more intense pain than other people so the slightest touch can leave her in agony.
She said: “Everything hurts so much more than it should. When the dog treads on me it feels like I am being crushed and I can't stop crying. My brother once threw a Frisbee which hit my leg and I couldn’t walk for three months. Sometimes even walking from one side of a room to another is so painful it can feel like I am being forced to walk without legs.
“Some people end up having amputations because of the intense pain. I was in hospital asking doctors to amputate my limbs when I was 10.
“My body is constantly hurting.”
Dealing with unbearable pain makes life difficult for sufferers.
Doctors prescribed Kezia 25 types of medication a day but she says nothing works.
“I am in pain every day but I have to learn to live with it. I had to move school because it was too big and took me 20 minutes to walk from the tutor room to my first lesson every morning.
“It’s hard because I don’t look like I should be in pain so people don’t understand.
“The research and understanding of CRPS is very limited and more needs to be done to help others.
“I see friends living life and there is so much I want to be able to do but I just can’t.”
However Kezia, from Hamworthy, says though there is no cure for the little understood condition she tries to stay positive and is looking forward to studying 3D animation at Weymouth College.
“The prom has really lifted me and I feel this will hopefully be a new chapter in my life. I would like people to be more aware of some of the more invisible illnesses that a lot of people suffer from and I want others with CRPS to know they are not alone."
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