Jessica Brown is gearing up to turn 11 years old on December 20th, and her mother, Jemma, is urging people to show her some birthday love.
Jessica suffers from neurofibromatosis, which has resulted in a number of aneurysms in her renal artery. This rare genetic disorder of the nervous system affects the manner in which nerve cells form and grow, which allows for tumors to grow on nerve tissue. To learn more about neurofibromatosis, click here.
Jessica has to deal with several cysts along her kidneys, hyper-mobile joints, ADHD and is currently on three different medications to regulate her blood pressure.
Jessica is a native of the small English town, Chorley and according to her mother, she loves receiving mail. For that, Jemma wants to ensure that she has a great 11th birthday with a plethora of birthday cards. Jessica also loves toys so Jemma and father, Daniel, are getting her a Nerf gun and Spiderman doll.
Though they’re from a small town, this UK family is far from small. There’s Jessica’s brother Conner, 14, and sisters Alisha, nine and Elisha, five. Having so many siblings always brightens the mood.
Last year, Jessica got 70 cards in the mail but this year they are trying to beat that number. On her 10th birthday, she had to make an unexpected visit to the hospital and they are hoping that this year that won’t happen again. Jessica is a frequent visitor of Manchester Children’s Hospital and one of the hospital’s nurses pays her a visit once a week.
Jessica’s neurofibromatosis causes her to get tired easily with aching bones. It’s easy to overwhelm her with big parties and over activity so they try to keep things mellow in the house.
Jessica is a prefect at Highfield Primary School in Chorley and was eight years old when she first started experiencing migraines at school. The diagnosis was hard hitting: Neurofibromatosis Type 1.
“Looking at her you wouldn’t know anything,“ said Jemma to the Lancashire Post. “She loves Spiderman and football, she’s a typical tomboy, a little prankster.”
If you would like to show Jessica some birthday love, you can send it to 133 Brooke Street, Chorley, PR6 0NG.
To read more about this story in the Lancashire Post, click here.
