Schoolgirl, 15, sleeps through GCSEs because of 'sleeping beauty' condition
 metro.co.uk-Many students have missed school with the tired excuse: ‘I slept in' but Stacey Comerford has nodded off for nine exams and her birthday because of a rare medical condition. The 15-year-old was predicted straight As in her GCSEs but has managed 30 per cent attendance this year. She is one of 1,000 people worldwide who suffer from Kleine Levin syndrome. Stacey recently came out of her longest episode that lasted for two months. Each episode can send her into a deep sleep for up to 20 hours a day. Mother Bernie Richards, 53, said: ‘There’s never any warning. I’ve even found her fast asleep on the kitchen floor. ‘When she’s in an episode, she might get up to go to the toilet or get a drink but she’s not awake. I call it sleep mode.’ Stacey, from Telford, Shropshire, started experiencing symptoms at school about a year ago. At first, doctors thought she was a ‘moody, depressed teenager’ but a neurologist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital diagnosed the condition syndrome in March. The schoolgirl said: ‘It’s easier now people know what it is. It’s easier to explain to them. Before, people didn’t believe me. That was the hardest thing. ‘People would pull faces at school if I said I was tired and needed to go home.’ |
