Rebecca Morris-Roberts suffers an extremely rare condition which stops her heart and breathing until she is technically dead. But seconds later, her body manages to ‘jump-start’ itself, bringing Rebecca back to life.
The 28-year-old has reportedly died 13 times and resurrected afterwards, prompting people to question her unique nature of living.
She has suffered reflex anoxic seizures – thought to affect only four people in the UK – since she was a teenager. And they are usually brought on by a bout of nerves.
“My eyes roll up into my head, my lips and face turn grey, my body stiffens, I stop breathing and begin to convulse,” she said.
“When I go through it I’m out for the count and I don’t know anything about it until I come around. My body somehow ‘defibs’ itself. It’s such an unusual condition and I have no idea what causes it. I do something even superheroes can’t do – I regenerate!”
“So when I was diagnosed with reflex anoxic seizures I finally felt like I’d taken control. Mentally, I wasn’t ready for a pacemaker. I didn’t want to look back at our wedding photos and think something else was helping me live. But then I was told that every time I had an episode it would diminish my chances of recovery by 10%. I was living on borrowed time. That’s when I realised I was being selfish so I decided to have it fitted – 54 years earlier than the average pacemaker.
“I have always had a fear of being in front of people and my father followed me around the whole venue because he feared something would happen,” she added.
“But I was completely relaxed. I was so proud to be sat at the top table looking at all the people who had been brought together. They all know what I’m going through and they didn’t pity me. I didn’t have to hide anything from them. It was incredible.”
