A teacher's life was changed forever by a rare disorder which leaves her struggling to breath and turning blue.
But despite being in agonising pain, Sarah Coughlin, from Fazakerley , can't stop smiling.
The 36-year-old suffers from alexithymia which in her words, means "she constantly feels happy."
Sarah was rushed to A&E back in 2014, just days after she suffered from a head injury during a freak accident at work.
She was initially given some painkillers by doctors and told the pain in her neck would get better in around a week.
Three months later, Sarah was referred to the Walton Centre where she was later diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND) and dystonia.
FND is a condition which affects the nervous system and causes Sarah to suffer from seizures, regular tremors in her neck and means she is unable to walk on certain days and must use a wheelchair.
And dystonia causes Sarah's neck to pull to one side and rotate round into abnormal positions.
This means she struggles to sleep at night and has been left struggling to breath and turning blue on multiple occasions while lying in bed.
Despite the life changing impact the conditions have had on her life, Sarah said she "constantly feels happy" due to a condition called alexithymia - which affects her ability to identify or describe how she feels.
Sarah has spoken out about to raise awareness and to ask for help in raising money for a medical bed which she is in urgent need of.
Sarah told the ECHO how her head turned around and "locked in place."
Sarah was rushed to A&E, where she was given some painkillers and told the pain would get better in around a week.
She returned to work but when the pain continued to get worse she was referred by her colleagues to occupational health and a private physiotherapist.
She said: "The physio said something wasn't right and they sent a letter to the Walton Centre.
"And then one day I got home from work about a year after the accident happened and I couldn't move the left side of my body.
"I was having stoke like symptoms and my auntie took me to hospital."
Sarah was referred by doctors to the Walton Centre where she was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder and dystonia.
The life changing conditions mean Sarah suffers from regular tremors in her neck, fits and has reduced mobility.
Sarah has had to leave her job as a result of the condition, along with her partner John Whittaker, 39, who is now Sarah's full time carer.
Sarah said: "Some days I can walk and other days I can't.
"I have regular spasms in my neck and on bad days I have fits.
"I had a spasm while I was in bed one night which pushed my neck forward. It blocked my airways and I was stuck lying flat in bed and I couldn't lift myself up to get any air in.
"Luckily my partner came into the room and saw that I was going blue and lifted me up.
"I burst out crying when the first bit of air came in. It's happened a few times."
Despite the devastating diagnosis, Sarah said she has difficulty expressing her emotions due to a condition called alexithymia which means "she constantly feels happy."
She said: "After I was diagnosed with FND the doctors referred to a psychologist and they told me I had alexithymia which is like an emotional blindness.
"It means I'm always happy.
"People say to me 'you should be crying with everything that has happened to you but you don't seem to be bothered.'
"I just look at it like it could be worse, I'm still here."
Sarah added: "The hardest thing for me was not being able to go back to work.
"I used to work three jobs as a teacher and volunteer which I loved.
"So going from working and being able to drive to being stuck like this can be very difficult.
"My partner's also quit his job to be my full time carer.
"But I always think there are people that are worse off than me, at least I'm still here.
"I try to stay positive and active. I go to the Brain Charity in Liverpool and meet people who are in different situations."
Sarah is hoping to raise a total of £10,000 for a medical bed which she can adjust electronically.
She said: "It will mean if I'm having a spasm I'll be able to life myself up using a remote, so that I don't stop breathing.
"My partner doesn't go to sleep at night since it happened. He stays up all night to keep an eye on me.
"Sometimes I only get one to two hours sleep a night because the spasms make it really difficult for me to get comfortable lying flat."
To donate to Sarah's Go Fund Me Page click here.
