Bryony Smith

Bryony seemed perfectly able until her swimming teacher noticed she wasn’t doing breaststroke legs properly. After various medical examinations, she was told at age 12 that she had a severe progressive muscle wasting condition, which even to this day remains undiagnosed.

At 14 she suffered a severe chest infection as result of the muscle condition, and was referred as an emergency to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. It was a close call, but Addenbrooke’s saved her life. She spent 5 months there recovering and had to have a tracheostomy and gastrostomy before being discharged home and back to school.

Bryony is now severely disabled and lives at her home in Hertfordshire, England.