A girl from the English town of Salibridge, Cheshire, lost her eyesight, speech and motor ability due to a rare disease - childhood dementia. According to the Daily Mail, she also forgot everything she learned by her age.
Molly Ingham, now 11 years old, was a perfectly healthy child until the age of six. After that, the girl started having seizures, she began to lose sight, memory and the ability to move.
Molly's 39-year-old mother, Adele Ingham, said: "It was terrifying to see a little girl who could do everything that other six-year-olds were capable of getting into this situation." According to the Englishwoman, the teachers began to notice the oddities in the student's behavior. When the kids jumped over the hoop, Molly was the last in line. She didn't know how to do it, even though she had just watched 20 classmates jump.
The girl was taken to a pediatrician, who suggested that she had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or low IQ. Another doctor diagnosed her with absence epilepsy. Over time, her condition began to progress and her seizures became more frequent.
In May 2019, Molly was diagnosed with Batten's disease. It is a rare group of nervous disorders that manifest itself during childhood, between the ages of five and ten. There are several forms of Batten's disease, all of which are fatal. Typically, patients with this diagnosis die in adolescence or around the age of twenty. This is a genetic disease, and for it to be passed on to a child, both parents must be carriers. The disease is characterized by symptoms such as seizures, personality changes, dementia, and problems with speech and motor skills.
“Last February we had to call an ambulance because she started hallucinations. She saw spiders crawling all over the walls, and I couldn't calm her down. So we spent three days in the hospital, where they took a lot of tests and finally diagnosed her,”explained Adele.
The girl's mother said that the disease also affects short-term memory, so Molly does not learn anything new. “My father died two and a half years ago and she still wants to visit him when we drive past his apartment. Last September she went to a special school where she made many friends. Now she cannot remember their names. She says she wants to go home when we are already at home. This is very frightening,”the Englishwoman emphasized.
In addition, Molly has lost her eyesight and moves in a wheelchair, as she cannot maintain her balance.
Adele worries she doesn't have much time with Molly and hopes to provide her with gene therapy that is available in Dallas. “Perhaps I only have a few years left with her. The treatment will not restore her eyesight, but it can help her learn to at least put words into sentences again. Therefore, there is still hope and we must fight, and I will not stop,”she said.
