WHEN Angela Terrill was involved in a serious car crash it led to a chance diagnosis of lupus, an incurable illness of the immune system, that ended up saving her life.

For Angela, aged 66, blindness, deafness, poor circulation, hair loss, severe rashes, mouth ulcers, headaches and tiredness became the norm after she got the condition, which affects skin tissue and organ membrane.

Angela, who receives treatment at Warrington Hospital, said: “I love coming to the hospital as it makes me feel safe and I don’t worry about my lupus when I’m there because I know I’ll be well looked after. I now want to volunteer with the hospital as long as I live.

“The staff are fantastic and give me all the reassurance I need to stay positive.”

Angela and her late husband Jack, who died of cancer five years ago, were driving through Cheshire 13 years ago when a lorry crashed into them.

The pair were taken to Crewe’s Leighton Hospital where Angela was treated for head injuries and a collapsed lung. While she was there a rash began to spread across her entire body and she had a high temperature.

The rash ended up causing scars equivalent to second degree burns and Angela, who stayed in hospital for seven days, added: “The doctor recognised my symptoms and asked how long I’d had lupus. I was shocked, I had never even heard of it back then but I was in great pain.”

After Angela was deemed fit enough to return to her Lymm home she suffered from the potentially fatal pericarditis just days later.

It was then she was referred to Warrington Hospital under the care of Dr Abdul Salih, a consultant in the rheumatology department. She was officially diagnosed with lupus following blood tests.

Angela has since lost 70 per cent of her hearing in one ear, 90 per cent in the other and is completely blind in her left eye.

The grandmother-of-four said: “I would have died if the lupus had gone undetected. Now I live a normal life and I try to be as healthy and active as possible but if it flares up I know to rest. I want to be there for my family.”