A DEVOTED mum today told of her daily battle against a rare genetic disorder and her guilt and fear after passing the condition on to her three children.
Sharon Birch, 41, spent 38 years living with a debilitating condition she never knew she had which left her with broken bones, severe bruises, scars and in out of hospital casualty departments most of her life. But it wasn't until her son began to su
ffer similar problems and was diagnosed with the rare Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that she was given the news that she had passed on the condition to him and her two daughters.
Now she is haunted by the guilt of giving them the condition as they face a daily fight to live a normal life.
Sharon, from Seaton Carew, said: "There are days when I feel so guilty. I blame myself. And I have to entertain horrible fears that my children could end up in a wheelchair – but I'm determined to make sure we lead a normal life."
Former policewoman Sharon spent her 20-year career in the force battling against fatigue and a string of injuries she put down to the risks of her job and the fatigue after heavy shifts that eventually forced her to quit her post.
Her childhood had been dogged by health problems, but like her brother and sister, had just endured the suffering believing they were blighted by bad luck.Doctors struggled to diagnose her numerous ailments – but Sharon struggled on to lead a normal life and married husband, Stephen, 50, a coroner's officer in Middlesbrough – and the pair had three children. But the devoted mum was devastated when the lives of her children, Elizabeth, Samantha, and Matthew also began to suffer.
Elizabeth, now 11, and Samantha, eight, were diagnosed with leaking heart valves and suffer other ailments – but Matthew was the worst hit.
But it wasn't until 2004 that a blood specialist in Newcastle diagnosed Matthew with EDS and told the family the shocking news that they all had the same condition.
EDS is an hereditary condition that affects only one in 100,000 people. The connective tissue or glue that holds the bones and body parts in place are faulty, leaving the skin and internal tissue extremely stretchy, fragile and the sufferers prone to joint problems, breaks, bruising and other ailments.
Sharon, who now runs a nursery, said: "One the specialist began to tell us the symptoms it was like alarm bells going off. In many ways I felt relieved that I finally knew what had been wrong with me all these years.
"It's like we've all been put together wrong. The stretchy family. But I think we are lucky in many ways and we just carry on and lead as normal life as possible.
