How many times do you sleep each day? I guess 40 times a day won’t be your answer.
Lucy Tonge is 18 years old and she falls asleep 40 times a day. You might want to ask how possible that is.
Lucy Tonge was 13 years old when she developed narcolepsy after having Pandemrix jab. The Pandemrix jab was given to 6 million people in Britain during the 2009 and 2010 swine flu pandemic. Narcolepsy is a rare, long-term brain disorder that causes a person to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times.
When Lucy’s parents noticed Lucy drifting off in front of the television as a 13-year-old, her parents didn’t really take it serious and put it down to typical teenage lethargy.
According to a report by FNB, when she developed a strange habit of slumping forward when she laughed, her mum told her: “stop doing that stupid thing when you laugh, it makes you look silly.” But she couldn’t.
Her parents sought medical advice after she started collapsing without warning and she was diagnosed with narcolepsy which was triggered by the swine flu vaccine she received in 2009.
Lucy Tonge narrates her experience below: “I’ve had some bad experiences, falling down stairs or off a chair on to tiles. Sometimes my neck falls too far back or forward and it can restrict my breathing which is terrifying really.”
It took Lucy Tonge five and a half hours to complete her Spanish A-level exam which normally takes two hours and 45 minutes to complete.
Lucy takes three medications for narcolepsy and two others to deal with the side-effects they produce.
Lucy Tonge is seeking compensation from the British government but had her compensation claim rejected by the Department for Works and Pension (DWP). The DWP claims her disability is not “severe”.
Her family intends to appeal the decision and news of a tribunal ordering the British government to pay £120,000 in damages to a 12-year-old boy whose narcolepsy was also linked to Pandemrix will definitely give her fresh hope.
Phil