But the one-in-a-million Stiff-Person Syndrome is killing her rather than giving her incredible strength
Grandmother Helen Stephens is a real-life Incredible Hulk after a rare condition causes her muscles to swell up like the comic book hero when she gets angry.
When the 50-year-old experiences one of her excruciating attacks, triggered by noise, anger or distress, her weight balloons by up to five stone and her neck swells by up to four inches.
But rather than giving her superhuman strength like the comic book character, the seizures take an incredible toll on her body.
“When I have a bad attack I swell up like the Hulk,” Ms Stephens told the Birmingham Mail.
“I look enormous and I even call myself the Hulk, Arnie (Arnold Schwarzenegger) or Rambo. I’m like a bodybuilder.
“My muscles tear at the same time and they increase in mass meaning my weight balloons.
“If I don’t get an injection of diazepam quickly enough my whole body stiffens, leaving me unable to have any treatment because a needle will just snap.”
Ms Stephens, from Wednesbury in the West Midlands, suffers from the incredibly rare Stiff-Person Syndrome.
She first developed spasms and walking problems after a car accident 14 years ago, but doctors were baffled by her symptoms.
She was even branded a hypochondriac before the syndrome was finally diagnosed in 2004, and later she learned it would be fatal.
“I had never heard of this thing but at last I had an answer about what I was suffering from,” she explained.
“I had always been a size eight but this has left me at a size 16.
“I can’t eat properly and am on soft foods. It’s completely ruined my life.
“My body is covered in scar tissues from where the muscles have been torn. I am in constant pain and I have to rely on carers and family to help me.”
She continued: “I want people out there to know this condition exists because I am constantly met with problems when I am admitted to hospital suffering from an attack.
“Medical staff don’t know what to do because it’s so rare.”
When Ms Stephens underwent her latest attack on November 6, she handed a letter to staff at City Hospital in Winson Green, Birmingham, listing her allergies and explaining what medics should do if she has an attack.
But she claims it was ignored.
“I was left on a bed for two hours without any treatment,” she said. “I could have died.
“My condition means I can die if I don’t have medication injected into me within minutes.
“My throat shuts down and my rib cage contracts, along with my heart, making it difficult to breathe and for blood to be pumped around my body.
“I explained this numerous times but I was left on a bed screaming in agony as everything in my body was ripping apart.”
A Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Hospital Trust spokeswoman said: “The Trust is grateful to Ms Stephens for alerting us to her concerns about her care in the Accident and Emergency Unit.
“We are sorry she is not happy with the care she received.
“We understand she will be providing us with details as part of a formal complaint and, until we have completed the subsequent investigation, we are unable to comment further.”
