‘I’LL PUT MY HAND OUT FOR BUSES THAT AREN’T THERE’
Mum tells of condition she shares with Coronation Street character
A MUM has told how she suffers distressing hallucinations – including seeing people who aren’t there, imaginary buses and pop-up lampposts.
Sonya Downs-walker can be walking down the street when obstacles suddenly appear in front of her.
The 44-year-old, from Meir, developed Charles Bonnet Syndrome – where the brain attempts to fill in gaps in visual information with invented images or patterns – a year after being diagnosed with MS.
The condition has been thrown into the spotlight as it is in a Coronation Street storyline featuring Johnny Connor, played by Richard Hawley.
The Rovers landlord has had visions of a ginger cat, mice, cockroaches and even his late son Aidan, as his eyesight deteriorates due to MS.
Sonya – who was diagnosed with MS 12 years ago – said she was pleased the popular soap had covered the condition.
“No one knew what it was or understood before,” she said. “People just thought I was puddled.”
Sonya’s early hallucinations occurred as she lay in a hospital bed.
“I looked outside and I could see these orange things on the trees,” she said. “I was trying to work out what they were. I could see red lights under the other patients’ beds too.
“I remember looking under my bed thinking ‘why don’t I have one?’ I thought it was real, I was arguing with the doctors about it.”
Sonya said posts would also ‘pop up’ in front of her as she walked down the street, causing her to stop suddenly. She also said she often flags down buses that aren’t there.
She added: “I’ll be waiting at the bus stop and I can see the bus coming. I know it’s further than I can see, but I’ll put my hand out for the bus that’s not there.
“There was a time that was really scary. I’d been shopping with my son down Tesco and it had gone dark, and when it’s dark everything is worse. We’d gone down an alleyway and there was a man with a red rucksack and a hi-vis jacket.
“He started walking slower and slower. I stopped and turned back and my son asked what was wrong. When I told him, he said there was no one there.”
Pete Moodie, a sight loss advisor at the Beacon Centre in Sedgley, said: “The hallucinations associated with Charles Bonnet Syndrome can be frightening and some don’t like to talk about it or tell their doctors as they fear it’s a mental health issue.
“But knowing it’s connected with their sight loss and not mental health can help people cope better. There’s no medical cure and it usually improves with time.
“Raising awareness of any sight condition is a welcome step, and let’s hope the storyline in Coronation
Street will help people understand Charles Bonnet Syndrome more.”