Mum so ill she didn’t recognise her children

A mother of seven suffering from an incurable disease causing terrible headaches and blindness is to undergo her 40th brain operation.

Emma Kanavakatini has been left virtually immobile and unable to look after her children since being struck down with an extremely rare condition called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).

The 38-year-old, who lives in Wincheap, has undergone dozens of operations, with doctors trying to alleviate the symptoms, but none will cure the disease, which is caused by a buildup of pressure around the brain.

Her aunt Gwyneth Speller, of Hollow Lane, says her niece is no longer the person she used to be. She said: “She was a fantastic mum, always doing stuff with the kids, laughing with everyone – she would have me in stitches. Now it’s like looking at a broken person.

“She’s lost 40% of her eyesight and has painful headaches. On a good day she says it’s like having the worst hangover in the world.

“She can’t function properly and it’s difficult for her to see more than two people at a time.

“She hasn’t been able to go out on her own for four years.”

Ms Kanavakatini has undergone 39 operations, including having shunts put into her skull to try to divert fluid away from her brain and to other parts of the body.

But Miss Speller says the surgery takes it toll and after one operation she was unable to recognise her own children. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Emma said it was like having a photograph in her head but when she looked at them she didn’t know who they were. It took three weeks before she completely recognised them. These operations take their toll. How many can a body take?”

Her children are aged from eight to 22 with the youngest five living with either Miss Speller or her sister Julie Sole, Ms Kanavakatini’s mum.

Miss Speller says it has been impossible for the family to be all together and Ms Kanavakatini has missed out on important occasions including birthdays, parents’ evenings and a wedding.

The 56- year- old is raising money through Just Giving to get all the family together at Christmas to celebrate at a nearby hotel.

She is hoping it will also raise awareness of the illness, which affects just one in 100,000 people.

“I want to create a memory, one that the family can remember as a good time,” she said.

“We won’t go far as Emma can’t travel but I want every member of the family there.

“We’re a very close family but this has disturbed everyone.

“Her children have lost their mum. Her youngest, Jaden, has only ever really known her ill.

“She’s not like their mum now, she’s like an old lady.”

To donate visit www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ gwyneth-speller

Emma Kanavakatini has an incurable disease; below, with her children