Animal worker contracts rare deadly illness after being bitten by insects on tiger trek
Rebecca Willers, 37, was diagnosed with rare and incurable Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis after the tiger trek in Indonesia in 2015
A ZOO owner is "turning to stone" after contracting a rare and deadly illness while on a tiger trek in the jungle.
Rebecca Willers was diagnosed with Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis after she was bitten by an insect in Kerinci Seblat National Park in Indonesia in 2015.
The incurable disease, which kills one in ten people within five years, has left the conservationist struggling to even brush her teeth as her hands feel like "rock".
She was on the trek through the jungle for the Tiger Conservation and Protection Unit (TCPU).
The 37-year-old, who runs Shepreth Wildlife Park in Cambridgeshire, told : "The scariest thing has been how rapid the onset has been.
";My doctor has warned me that the next three years will be the most aggressive.
"Animals are my life but now I sit in the zoo's office filling in paperwork."
The disease, which makes her body believe it is under attack, was triggered by the insect bite after her immune system went into "overdrive" due to her being in the jungle.
When she returned to the UK, Rebecca was hit by a number of symptoms until she was diagnosed with the "terrifying" killer disease in September.
She now faces an anxious wait to discover whether it has spread to her internal organs.
Rebecca has also cancelled her pension and has put her house on the market to free up the equity to pay for tests and treatment.
But she is putting on a brave face and says she only felt sad about her diagnosis when she was forced to cancel a climb on Mount Everest in aid of the Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity's Hedgehog Hospital and TCPU's team in Sumatra.
Writing on Facebook, she said: "I’m embracing a very positive attitude as I’m acutely aware of how lucky I am to have been diagnosed so early.
"My symptoms began to manifest two years ago, however I’m still fortunate as many people are not lucky enough to have had such an early diagnosis.
"I have always been a very positive, upbeat person and there is no way this condition will change that about me, but I do know some people have found that a little hard to take – so I can only thank you for going through this process with me in the way that I have chosen."
A disease that turns you to stone and can kill within five years
Diffuse systemic sclerosis affects internal organs and mostly affects women between 30 and 50 years of age.
Scleroderma is caused by the immune system attacking the connective tissue under the skin and around internal organs and blood vessels.
Symptoms can include weight loss, fatigue and joint pain and stiffness.
In some cases where the heart, lungs or kidneys are affected, more serious symptoms such as shortness of breath, high blood pressure and pulmonary hypertension can occur.
It's thought scleroderma occurs because part of the immune system has become overactive and out of control. This leads to cells in the connective tissue producing too much collagen - causing scarring and thickening (fibrosis) of the tissue.
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