inspiring others through pain

Inspiring others through pain, she lives life to the fullest.

For 12 years,  a young British woman has had to live with an incurable condition that showed up after a mosquito bit her when she was 13. Now 25, she is telling her story to inspire others.

Angharad Williams of Newport, South Wales, has lymphoedema, an incurable condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissues and usually affects the lower limbs. Shortly after the mosquito bit her, her ankle swelled. Two years later, doctors diagnosed her with lymphoedema.

According to the “Daily Mail,” a British newspaper that interviewed Williams, “some mosquitoes carry a parasite that can block fluid from draining within the lymphatic system – a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins and fluid.” According to the newspaper, a spokesman for the The Lymphoedema Support Network said Williams’ lymphatic system might not have been functioning as well as it should have been when she was bitten, so she was unable to fight off the infection from the bite.

The diagnosis, however, has not stopped Williams from living life to its fullest. Even though her left leg is now double the size of her right one and weighs 28 pounds, she works as a P.E. teacher and competes in triathlons, swimming competitions and hiking expeditions.

For many years, she could control the swelling by wearing a compression bandage every day. The bandage encourages the fluid to drain from the leg and covers all of her left leg, reaching to her hip. Even though she has worn it constantly, her leg continued to swell until it now weighs 28 pounds. She said doctors have told her it will get even bigger and spread to other parts of her body.

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