Jacqui’s daily duel with death

EVERY morning Jacqualine Brown, 37, wakes up wondering if she will make it through the day.

The Matakana resident suffers from hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic condition that causes her to pass out and stop breathing.

Brown has been rushed to Auckland’s North Shore Hospital three times in the past six months and says she would not be alive if weren’t for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

‘‘My last episode was the worst – I was rushed to hospital in the helicopter and it took them a while to get me back.’’

Brown regularly has to get blood transfusions to prevent the attacks, which she says can take her three weeks to recover from.

‘‘I was born with HAE in Durban and had my first episode when I was three months old. I wasn’t diagnosed until 2011.

‘‘I moved to New Zealand in 2014 and, after my second attack, I was told by the doctor I was depressed because they didn’t know or understand my disease.’’

Brown believes she is the only person in New Zealand with type three HAE, but said there could be many misdiagnosed people walking around because people are not educated about the disease..

‘‘I have had to do all my tests again since immigrating which has not been to good for me. They have only just given me the medication that I need, but I pretty much have had to be at death’s door for them to say OK.’’

Despite the disease, Brown gets on with her life as normal with her two children and runs her Mataskana business Morris & James Cafe.

‘‘I live a normal life – I amnot a sickly person or anything, but I do hit rock bottom.

‘‘It’s scary for my kids and the people around me who have to inject me with adrenaline. My kids learnt to inject me from the age of seven.’’

Rare in New Zealand, her disease is nothing new to the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter team, who rescued Brown and took her to hospital three weeks ago. Last year, she was picked up twice in three weeks when she suffered pain in her ears, back, and suffered internal swelling and stopped breathing.

‘‘Without the Westpac Rescue Helicopter you would have to interview a corpse because they literally have saved my life,’’ she said.

In the past, Brown has gone five years without an episode and said if she maintains a good treatment plan and stays healthy she will still live a full life.

‘‘The community needs the rescue staff, they give up so much. They are the heroes behind people and they are the lifeline, without them there are a lot of dead people walking around. I don’t think anyone really understands how much people need these services.’’ Brown’s story will feature on TVNZ1 at 8pm on Monday.

It’s scary for my kids and the people around me who have to inject me with adrenaline.’ JACQUALINE BROWN