Everything was going great for Beth Goodier. She was an outgoing student and had a bright future to look forward to. But just days before her 17th birthday, Beth took a nap on the couch in her living room.
The teenager wouldn't wake up properly for the next six months. She would only wake up momentarily in a trance, speaking it what sounded like baby talk. Her mother, Janine Goodier, has since calculated that Beth sleeps for 22 hours a day.
Those two hours she's awake are used to eat a little food and use the bathroom. Now, five years later, Beth has been diagnosed with Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS), or "Sleeping Beauty syndrome."
Little is known about KLS, only that it begins around the age of 16 and lasts around 13 years. Beth is currently two and a half months into a sleep episode.
Janine tends to her daughter, sitting and waiting for Beth to momentarily wake up each day.
"She might wake up tomorrow and then it's a race against time to live the life she should have had. She rushes off to catch up with her friends and get her hair done. But no one knows when she might fall asleep again," Janine told Daily Mail.
When the illness first struck, Janine believed Beth must have had a brain tumor or hemorrhage, but tests disproved those theories. However, doctors believe the illness may have been triggered by tonsillitis, an infection which can cause inflammation in the brain. For those with a genetic predisposition, this may activate KLS.
Beth has little memory of her sleep state and is unaware of the passage of time. Missing out on her life can be depressing and difficult, but all Janine and Beth can do is wait out the KLS until it eventually goes away.
“Once this is over, I just want to do something productive, that’s all," Beth says.
See the 22-year-old in a rare interview where she is fully awake below.
Please SHARE Beth Goodier's story to raise awareness about Sleeping Beauty syndrome!
