A brave young woman with a rare disease is forced to live near a hospital because the veins in her face could rupture at any moment and become life-threatening.
Australian Fatimah Mohamed, 24, was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation – a tangle of veins and arteries known as AVM – when she was just 10 years old.
She first went to a doctor about this problem after teachers noticed unusual swelling on the left side of her face.
Although AVM is usually found in the brain or spinal cord, Ms Mohamed’s is in her upper left jaw, leading to her eye.
Fatimah Mohamed, 24, was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a tangle of veins and arteries, also called AVM, at the age of 10
Ms Mohamed (pictured) can never be too far from a hospital as the AVM can rupture at any time and become life-threatening
For the past 14 years she has had to live with constant fractures to her face and every time this happens she has to undergo surgery to stop the bleeding.
At the time of writing, she has undergone 82 operations.
“It may only give me one, two to three months of relief and then it will find new passageways, new ways of growing, find new blood vessels and rupture again,” she said. A current issue.
An emotional Ms Mohamed recalled a fracture in 2015 that led to a 16-hour marathon operation to save her life.
“I turned blue… they called my family and they kind of told them, expect the worst, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.
The doctors removed part of her cheekbone and teeth, leaving her with permanent scars.
Ms Mohamed has since documented her journey on TikTok to raise awareness in the hope of finding a cure.
“It feels like you’re in a nightmare that you can’t wake up from,” she said.
Her mother and siblings, who were there every step of the way, are at a breaking point.
But Ms Mohamed is still hopeful that help is available.
“I still believe that no matter what I’m going through right now, I have to be brave and keep going through it,” she said.
Reverend Bill Crews and his charitable foundation are supporting Ms Mohamed and say he was impressed by her courage when they first met last year.
According to Ms Mohamed, his support of her as she shares her story has been ‘life-changing’.
“No matter what you go through in life, always stay positive and always be brave and always see light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
“Because I believe that after every hardship comes ease.”
To date, Ms Mohamed (pictured) has undergone 82 operations