BRAVE TEENAGER TELLS
Emily Lawson was just eight when she lost her beloved dad to a rare, incurable brain condition – and 18 when she was told she had inherited the same illness.
But instead of being angry, the teenager resolved to get busy living, not dying.
Emi ly, who has shown signs of Huntington’s disease since she was 14, is determined to make the most of every moment she has left.
Now 19, adrenaline junkie Emily, of Linlithgow, has bungee jumped off Glasgow’s Titan Crane, been suspended from the roof of the CN Tower in Toronto and climbed to the top of the Empire State Building.
The teenager, who watched the cruel and unstoppable disease claim her dad Mark’s life when she was a young child, now has her eye fixed on a skydive and a dip in a shark tank.
Emily, who has the even rarer juvenile form of Huntington’s which affects less than 20 young people in Scotland, wants to pack as much into life as she can before the illness robs her of the ability to walk, talk and live independently.
The brave computing student said: “What is the point in worrying about tomorrow when I’m still here today. I know how grave my condition is but I try not to think about it too much. I just want to cram as much into life as I can.
“Yes, being diagnosed with Huntington’s is horrendous and the prognosis is devastating but at least I know I’m going to get ill and have been given the chance to realise my dreams.
“There are lots of other young people who have been killed suddenly in car accidents, who thought they had their whole lives ahead of them but didn’t, so I suppose in a way I am lucky.” She added: “A bucket list to me sounds like a negative thing so I like to think of my to- do list as things to do while I’m still well. I’ve already ticked lots off. “I’ve watched a baseball game in New York, been suspended off the CN Tower in Toronto, bungee jumped over the Clyde, visited Nasa and danced at my mum and stepdad’s wedding in Florida. “I’m doing a skydive in St Andrews in June to raise money for the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) and am planning to dive with sharks. A trip to Australia is also a dream.” Emily, who is studying for an HND at City of Glasgow