A woman suffering a rare jaw condition which means she can only eat soup and shakes has said she wishes “someone would offer her the lethal injection."
Lauren Bolton, 29, suffers from "locked jaw" - a degenerative condition which affects the movement of her jaw, ears, and temple and leaves her in excruciating pain.
The condition - called temporomandibular joint disease - means she is forced to live off soups and meal replacement shakes and even talking leaves her in agony.
Her only option to escape the agonising pain is to fundraise £95,000 for surgery which only a handful of surgeons in the UK can do.
Lauren from Helmshore, said: “The pain is never not there.
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"If I don't eat or talk and keep on top of pain medication it is more manageable, but it is always there - from the second I open my eyes in a morning to the second I fall asleep, it is exhausting.”
She began experiencing jaw problems when she was 15 with her condition continuing to deteriorate ever since. She now has to take a "cocktail" of drugs every day, including over 20 different pills including Codeine, Tramadol, and Naproxen.
Lauren said: “I experience swelling, agonising pain and dizziness if I talk a little too much that day, it is no way to live.
“There have frequently been times where I've just wished someone would offer me the lethal injection.
“It is hard to put into words how severe the pain can get.
"I spend my nights getting heat packs, pain medication, or just sitting in a scorching hot shower with the water on my face to get any kind of relief.”
Lauren was working in her dream job as a therapist but has since had to put her career on hold as she is in so much pain. She had plans to undertake doctorate level training in forensic psychology, but these too have had to be shelved.
Lauren's mum Denise, 56, and dad Paul, 53, work full-time as a nurse and technical director respectively, but have to take Lauren to doctors appointments, sometimes at the drop of a hat, with Lauren unable to drive.
Denise said: "It's heartbreaking to watch her suffer each and every day and then she's up and down throughout the night - somedays she can't even get out of bed."
Lauren said: “I have gone from being such a driven, academic girl to a complete shell of who I once was because of this condition."
“I have not been able to work for months now, that has been really tough mentally and emotionally.
"My job means everything to me, and I have studied so hard to be where I am."
Lauren has been fundraising for private surgery to replace her jaw joint as the current waiting time to have the procedure on the NHS is three years.
Without the operation, Lauren says she fears she “won’t have a future.”
“I really dread to think where I'd be without surgery in 12 or 18 months’ time it's a really scary thought,” she said.
“Being ill and in chronic pain is incredibly lonely, I can't put into words how small and dark my life has been because of this condition,” she said.
“This is more than just my story - Temporomandibular joint disorders are not well understood or well managed and the long-term results are horrendous.
“I have had so many messages from people either where I am now or where I was a few years back.
"It is heartbreaking to think so many other people are living the way I have been forced to.”
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