A teenager with a rare condition which causes her to faint says she is sick of being accused of drunkenness when she passes out in public.
Paige Bartram, 17, suffers from a rare syndrome known as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) which causes her to faint if she stands up for longer than 30 minutes at a time.
But, she says people often walk past her when she has fainted and assume she is a drunken teenager.
On one occasion, Paige, from Leeds (UK), even had to be rushed to hospital after being left unconscious for more than half an hour before anyone came to her rescue.
She said: ‘My condition has taught me that the public can be very naive.
‘If I faint in public people just ignore me because they think I’m drunk – I was once left in town in the middle of winter for about half an hour.
‘Even paramedics have told me that people are more likely to think I’m wasted because I’m a teenage girl.
‘It makes me very cautious if I go out alone, and sometimes I’ll just have to sit on the floor for a few minutes if I think I’m going to faint.
‘It can be quite annoying – the fact that people jump to the conclusion that I must be some kind of alcoholic.
‘Sometimes it can be hard, but I always try to remain positive.’
Paige is currently on medication to try and control her condition, but until a suitable treatment is found she has to learn to live with her symptoms.
She said: ‘If I go out and about, I just have to make sure I take time to sit down and have a rest – if I don’t, I’ll just collapse.
‘I’m 6ft tall, so when I do faint I can really hurt myself on the way down, so I have to be really careful.
‘Sometimes I will just sit on the floor if there isn’t a chair around – although I don’t really like to as I can get pretty funny looks.
‘If I don’t take the time to sit down I’ll just faint and that’s when it can be very difficult.
‘I wear a medical bracelet but people tend to just leave me.’
While Paige is always careful about condition, she has had some serious accidents in the past.
She said: ‘I was once at the top of the stairs and I fainted.
‘I fell all the way down and had to be rushed to hospital as they suspected I’d fractured my neck.
‘Although it was scary it taught me to take the condition seriously and be very careful.
‘Before, I tried to beat it, but it taught me that I need to learn to live with it.’
Paige first began fainting five years ago at school.
PoTS is an abnormal response by the nervous system to standing up.
It causes an increase in the heart rate and altered blood supply to the brain.
This causes dizziness, fainting, tiredness and palpitations.
Other symptoms can include shakiness, shortness of breath, chest pain and headaches.
Now, Paige does her best to live her life, despite her unusual condition.
