Jackie Chircop, 23, has a demanding wish list this Christmas, and the two things she yearns for the most are a boyfriend and friends.
I just want to get much better and don’t want to be sick for my whole life
At 18, a rare brain disorder robbed Jackie of normality, her boyfriend and her aspirations to become a hairdresser. So seeing her friends getting married and settling down has made her feel she is missing out.
“I want a boyfriend this Christmas – a cute one obviously, to take me out to nice places; new friends; some clothes; and a new job because I need a lot of money to go abroad with my father,” she says with a hearty giggle, as she disappears to crank up the volume on R. Kelly’s song Ignition.
Her mother Madeline smiles and concedes her daughter’s frustration is possibly exacerbated by being constantly with the family.
“She’s been with me for five years, so she’s obviously fed up with hanging around with her mum all the time,” she says.
“I’m lost and don’t know where to take her. There’s no respite for her in most centres as her condition is very particular.”
Mrs Chircop has come forward to make an appeal for somebody who would spend time with Jackie and go out with her twice a week.
“Ideally, we’re looking for somebody who can be her friend, not a carer, who can go out with Jackie especially in the evenings, or even spend time with her at home,” she says.
Jackie’s fierce battle with Herpes Simplex Encephalitis – a rare neurological disorder characterised by inflammation of the brain – started on December 14, 2006.
Herpes Simplex 1 is actually a very common virus that causes small blisters or cold sores on the lips, inside the nose, in the eye, or on the eyelid. But in very rare cases, usually when the immune system is compromised, the virus moves to the brain from the nasal cavity through the sinuses, resulting in encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).
At the time, in the run-up to the Christmas festivities, Jackie had been extremely busy, cramming her life with serving at her uncle’s bar in St George’s Bay to finance her hairdressing course, and going out with her boyfriend and friends.
For over six weeks Jackie was kept at the hospital’s Intensive Therapy Unit in a medically-induced coma to let the brain hibernate and protect it from further injury. In all, she spent four months in hospital and had to relearn how to walk and talk.
The girl’s recovery has been nothing short of extraordinary and she is constantly improving – she has recently started reading children’s books, though she admits she does not understand all the words.
Coaxing her to look up the difficult words in the dictionary, Mrs Chircop focuses on Jackie’s achievements towards greater independence, from washing and eating on her own, to sometimes going out with her cousin to a pub in Paceville.
Jackie chips in and recounts how she loves watching films but her life is still interrupted by seizures, and her memory has been compromised through scarring on the brain.
Unfortunately, the girl’s fits took a bad turn in July when she was mistakenly given the wrong medication, landing her in hospital. As if on cue, Jackie says: “I just want to get much better and don’t want to be sick my whole life.”
Mrs Chircop says: “When she’s happy and her mind is occupied her seizures decrease. I pray to God somebody will come forward.”
Those interested in building a friendship with Jackie and spending some time with her can send an e-mail to dive@scubatech.info.