Main image via Harvard Health – Harvard University + Quora
Sometimes when you see an attractive person, they can make go weak at the knees.
One woman however, suffers from a rare condition that makes her literally weak at the knees and causes her to collapse anytime she sees someone she finds attractive.
via GIPHY
Due to a rare brain disorder, Kirsty Brown from Northwich, Cheshire, UK has avoided making eye contact with men in fear that she would suddenly collapse.
Called cataplexy, the disorder causes a sudden muscle paralysis that can be triggered by any strong emotion such as anger, laughter and fear.
The condition is most commonly associated with narcolepsy – a sleep disorder, and an attack usually lasts less than two minutes.
To keep from hurting herself, the mother-of-two is sadly forced to keep her head down while she’s in public to avoid eye contact with men she finds attractive.
Image via Daily Mail
“It’s so embarrassing,” Kirsty shared. “I was out shopping once and I saw someone that looked alright, and my legs just went and I had to cling onto my cousin for support.”
“If I see someone attractive, my legs just go so I try not to put myself in situations where that could happen, or I try to keep my eyes down for my own safety,” she added.
via GIPHY
On average, the mother-of-two has around five cataplexy attacks per day and on a bad day, Kirsty can have up to 50 attacks, making it incredibly difficult for her to leave the house.
“Considering it’s a sleep disorder, we don’t sleep much and when we do it isn’t a deep sleep so if I’m really tired, I have more attacks than usual,” she said.
“I can have an attack at the top of a flight of stairs if they’re steep because I don’t like heights,” she shared. “I’m trying to move to a new house that doesn’t have stairs or where I can have a stairlift.”
“Anger and laughter trigger it and me and my sisters are either arguing or making each other laugh because they’re the funniest people I know,” she added. “I think they know what they’re doing sometimes, if they know I won’t hurt myself then they’ll make me laugh.”
“Even if I just find myself funny, I can have an attack,” Kirsty noted. “It’s any strong emotion or loud noises like beeping cars or shouting.”
Image via Daily Mail
Kirsty shared that there are upsides and downsides of having cataplexy.
“I haven’t had an attraction that strong recently that it would trigger an attack, which on one hand is brilliant but also a bit sad because I’d like to feel that attracted to someone,” she shared.
“There’s been times when I’ve been arguing, and I’ve collapsed which does put an end to the argument,” she added. “Im due to have physio on my back because I hurt it when I had an attack.”
Image via Daily Mail
Thought Kirsty was born with the narcolepsy gene, the disorder was brought on early by a head injury she had when she was nine.
“Me and some friends were throwing stones into a tree to get conkers and one hit me on the head,” she said.
“I would have suffered with cataplexy eventually because of the gene anyway.”
Having the disorder hasn’t been easy on Kirsty, especially when it comes to finding a job.
“It has been a struggle because I brought my kids up on my own and it’s hard to find a job when you need to explain that you could collapse at any point.”
“When I have an attack, I don’t feel anything go through my body, it’s like a short circuit from the brain to the muscle is interrupted and I just lose control over my legs, but the top half of my body does feel strong.”
via GIPHY
It may seem like Kirsty’s condition is one from a rom-com movie but unfortunately for the mother-of-two, cataplexy is a serious condition that has taken over her life.
We’re hoping Kirsty will be able live a safe life with minimum injuries!
Have you ever heard of someone with the same condition as Kirsty? Let us know!
Info via Daily Mail