Kentish Express Ashford & District
Doctor put teen’s memory loss down to stress of school
Student lost her ability to speak and walk
A teenage girl who became so ill she lost her memory and the ability to speak and walk has returned to the hospital that saved her life.
Rafaela Domingos, from Kennington, was 14 when she began developing symptoms her GP at first blamed on stress from school.
When her health worsened considerably, doctors found she had contracted autoimmune encephalitis, a rare condition which causes an inflammation of the brain.
The condition affects 6,000 people in the UK every year, and left the former Wye School pupil unable to remember who she was, or who her parents were.
Her mother Florbela Martinho, 48, recounted the terrifying experience. “In February 2017 when Rafaela was 14 she started to feel ill.
“She couldn’t sleep, lost her appetite and was easily confused and disorientated.
“I was very concerned, so I took her to see our GP but he didn’t think it was anything serious.
“He put it down to stress from school.
“A week later she had a seizure when she was in school and was unresponsive for five minutes.
“She was taken to the William Harvey and had lots of tests but they all came back fine so she was sent home.
“The following weekend she had another seizure during a family walk, and was taken to hospital but her condition began to deteriorate.
“Her speech started to become incoherent and she didn’t know who she was and didn’t recognise her family.
“She was also hallucinating and attempting to run away all the time.
“She eventually stopped talking and walking and had to be tube fed.
“It was really frightening. “The doctors didn’t know what was wrong and her condition was getting worse.
“We really feared for her life.” Doctors at the William Harvey contacted the neurology team at Evelina London Children’s Hospital for advice, and the teenager was transported there.
The Evelina team suspected Rafaela had encephalitis, and she had a lumbar puncture test which confirmed the diagnosis.
Florbela said: “It was a huge relief finally knowing what condition Rafaela had and that it could be treated.
“Her condition really began to improve when she was given treatment to suppress her immune system.”