Recent mother, Aimee Lee Sciberras, 23, has a history of suffering from seizures; she had one when she was giving birth to her son Elijah, and two more, just as she was standing outside her home.
During each of these previous incidents, Sciberras’ doctors weren’t able to identify what, if anything, was ailing her. Her scans all proved to be inconclusive.
Just recently, Sciberras experienced her fourth seizure. She was, again, simply standing out in the garden of her own home.
During the fit, she passed out and landed with half her face on top of a garden heater.
When she came to, Sciberras had no recollection of the incident. “I walked inside holding my face and told Joshua [her partner] I was going to lay down, as [my face] was hurting,” she remembered. “I moved my hand and he looked startled and asked what had happened. I had no idea.”
As it turns out, Sciberras had been passed out on the heater long enough to “burn the nerve endings on her forehead” and develop third degree burns across her face.
Sciberras’ partner, Joshua Carruth, immediately took her to the hospital where nurses tended to her wounds by scrubbing away the dead skin and covering the wounds with dressings. Sciberras had to wait twelve days before she could get skin grafts taken from the side of her face to the front, to repair the damage that had been done, but during that time, her doctors were finally able to diagnose her with epilepsy.
Though the procedures were successful, and Sciberras’ skin is healing well, she still doesn’t “want to go out because people stare at [her].” She felt “disgusting and ugly,” and confessed she didn’t want to show her face again. Knowing that her doctors had been able to diagnose her condition and prescribe her medication to help her avoid enduring more seizures was a small comfort during this time.
It was ultimately her son Elijah who encouraged and motivated her to pull through. “I keep fighting for Elijah's sake. He's my rock and I'll never give up because of him,” Sciberras admitted.
Now, Sciberras has to wear a mask to help her skin heal flat, and looks forward to hitting the two-year mark on her recovery so she can receive treatment to lighten the scars on her face.
