MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare. Graduate Imaarl Duprey, 23 was in the land of nod for 59 days and acting like a toddler during the episode. She suffers from a debilitating sleep disorder - dubbed Sleeping Beauty Syndrome - which means she can fall into a trance without warning and snooze for 20 hours a day through episodes that typically last ten days. The rare neurological, called Kleine Levin Syndrome (KLS), affects around 1,000 people worldwide and also sees sufferers experiencing extreme exhaustion, paranoia and hysterical behaviour while in the grips of the incurable condition. During an episode Imaarl, a fashion worker of Lewisham, London, relies on round the clock care and assistance from her mum Kerry Griffiths, 46 and sister Shahnequa Duprey, 21.
Other great stories
TEST COULD HAVE SAVED ME FROM CERVICAL CANCER AT 20
A young woman has told how she has been robbed of her fertility and now faces an uncertain future after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of just 22 .
ABANDONED TAVERN AND FARM SHOP
STOOD side by side next to a busy road, these buildings were once bustling with life .
DADDY DAY CARE: CARDINALFISH FATHER CARRIES EGGS IN MOUTH
It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF AFRICAN TRIBES
A German photographer travelled around Africa where he met and photographed members of tribes in a series of intimate portraits .
HUNGRY HIPPO MISSES OUT ON LUNCH
A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .
CHRISTMAS SNOWMAN ATTRACTS CURIOUS SQUIRREL
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
HER ROYAL i-NESS - THERE'S AN APP TO STEAL KATE'S STYLE
Have you ever wanted to emulate the Duchess of Cambridge's style? Well, now there's an app for that .
MAN AND NATURE
LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .
DERELICT MANSION
With an abandoned tricycle sitting in an empty corridor, this derelict but once grand mansion could be the setting for The Shining .
TOY CAR ADVENTURES
These images of vintage cars, bikes and vans, pictured all over the world, could easily have come from a globetrotting petrol-head’s photo album .
IT'S BEHIND YOU: PHOTOGRAPHER IN WALES IGNORES GIANT WAVES
Southern England, the south-west and west Wales have been warned to expect more wild weather, with heavy rain and high tides possibly leading to coastal flooding and travel disruption over the weekend .