A woman who was a finalist for Miss Great Britain has revealed her battle with a rare brain condition that could one day leave her blind.
Megan Patrick, 35, spends each day worrying that she might lose her vision again and possibly, for good.
The mum-of-two, from South Shields, often experiences flare ups of “debilitating” dizziness, coupled with temporary blindness.
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In turn, this has left her filing for insolvency, losing her job and dropping out of college.
Now, though, she’s turned her whole life around and hopes to share her story to act as inspiration for other people not to give up.
But it’s still a struggle.
“I still have visuals disturbances and can sometimes hear fluid swishing in my head,” the beautician told Need To Know.
“Strangely, it feels normal to me now.
“I often just wait for it to pass and then continue on with my day.
“But a lot of the time, people around me often don’t even know what I’m experiencing.
“Flare-ups are usually caused by a medication change, so I always try to plan these around what else is happening in my life.”
Megan, who is an avid dancer, realised something was wrong when she was just 15 years old.
After experiencing frequent bouts of blurry vision and nausea, things took a turn for the worst when everything suddenly went black.
Rushed to hospital, she was treated initially for meningitis, then an eating disorder, before an eye test discovered a mass on her brain.
Fearing it was a cancerous tumour, extensive tests were carried out, before it was confirmed to be idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
The rare condition, which affects only one person in every 100,000 in the UK, is a build-up of pressure around the brain that can be caused by severe head trauma, or another illness.
In Megan’s case, it was a mystery, as she just woke up with it one day and even doctors aren’t sure of the cause.
She had emergency surgery, a lumbar puncture, inserting a needle into her lower back and draining the fluid from her brain.
Sadly, the symptoms easing was only short-lived and soon, the beautician’s life was at “rock bottom”.
She said: “I was accepted into dance college and got myself a part-time job in a bar, so things were finally looking up.
“But then the symptoms returned, this time worse than before.
“I lost my job and tried to push on with college for as long as I could.
“Ultimately, though, it all got too much and I had to drop out and move back home.
“As I was in huge debt from going to college, I had to file for insolvency at only 21.
“I was at complete rock bottom, feeling hopeless and stuck.”
Megan, who was determined to not let this setback define her, decided to do a beauty course.
In July 2014, The Princes Trust gave her £750 to start her own company.
And now, the business is thriving.
In October 2024, she was a finalist for Miss Great Britain and has recently started dancing again.
Since giving birth to her second child, Saffia, now three, she’s found that her condition has “settled down” and she hasn’t had a bad flare-up requiring hospital treatment.
Megan added: “I have definitely learned resilience over the years and have a strong mindset, with a positive outlook on life, which always gets me through.
“My brain condition and everything it caused me to go through, especially giving up on my childhood dreams and ending up in debt was devastating.
“However, it’s pushed me to find other opportunities, new passions and focus on creating a better future for myself.
“I suppose it’s led me down the right path.
“When life throws you a curve ball, keep going.
“I’ve come out the other side stronger than ever.
“All I needed to do was take back control of my life.
“This condition doesn’t define me, only my achievements do.”
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