Woman bitten by insect 11 years ago ‘begs her mother to let her die’ as illness leaves her in hospital for weeks

'When she has bad days you feel like you’re watching her go'

Kirsty's condition has deteriorated over the past 11 years and has led to her being in and out of hospital (Theresa Keep)

A young woman has begged her mother to take her to Switzerland to let her die after an insect bite 11 years ago left her spending weeks at a time in hospital with severe pain.

Kirsty Keep, 23, has had lupus, a condition where her immune system attacks healthy cells and organs, since the age of 12, when she was bitten by a tick in her garden.

Her condition has deteriorated over the past 11 years. It has led to her spending 90 per cent of her time in bed over the past two years, which has been at its worst in the past year, according to her mother Theresa.

Speaking to Kent Online, she said: “When she has bad days you feel like you’re watching her go.

“She’s begged me to take her to Switzerland and said she doesn’t want to do it anymore.

“That’s not something you want to hear from your daughter. You’re heartbroken every day.

“Every few months, when she can’t stop being sic, she has to come into hospital and on on a drip because she’s dehydrated. All she wants is a normal life.”

Kirsty was put into an induced coma in October, but doctors were unable to find her veins, so had to put tubes into her neck (Theresa Keep)

Ms Keep is currently too weak to take the lid off a bottle of water and open doors.

She said: “My bones feel like they’re being snapped and my muscles ripped.

“It feels like there’s someone inside me pulling my insides,” according to Kent Online.

At the age of 16, her face became paralysed by Bell’s palsy, which caused electric shock like feelings across her face.

She also began have seizures 18 months ago, both of which are believed to be as a result of the bite.

Initially, the bite covered the area the same size as a human hand and led to Ms Keep spending three weeks in hospital.

Her mother believes she was bitten by a tick and is also suffering from Lyme disease, a bacterial infection which has symptoms common with lupus.

She has been referred to a lupus specialist at Guy’s Hospital, London.

Tests for other diseases and infections came back negative. A fundraising page and been set up by her sister Chloe, to raise money for other tests to help diagnose.

Lupus is uncommon and affects 15,000 people in England and Wales, according to the NHS, where around 90 per cent of cases are women, between the ages of 15 and 50.

There is currently no cure for lupus, but there are medicines that can help cope with the disease.