Woman Told She Had Three Days To Live Discovering Rare Health Conditio

Woman Told She Had Three Days To Live Discovering Rare Health Condition

A mother who rapidly dropped three stone and developed a permanent tan was rushed to hospital and given just three days to live due to hidden health issues.

NationPulse Desk

Oct 30, 2026 · 6:41 PM 4 min read

Key takeaways

Victoria Oliver was told she had three days to live in May 2018 due to meningitis and encephalitis.

She lost three stone in six weeks and experienced extreme fatigue, joint pain, and skin darkening.

A doctor correctly diagnosed her with Addison's disease in August 2018 after a referral from a family friend.

Addison's disease prevents adrenal glands from producing enough vital steroid hormones.

She later gave birth to twin girls on 6 January 2019 despite earlier predictions that she could not have more children.

Victoria Oliver appeared healthy with a glowing tan, but that outward appearance masked a dangerous medical crisis that was shutting down her body from within. For months, the 40-year-old dismissed severe exhaustion and aching joints while living in Guernsey with her husband Joe, 40, a financial director, and her children Ruby, 11, and twins Cara and Eliza, seven.

Her condition deteriorated by May 2018 at age 32, leading to an emergency admission where physicians warned she had only three days to live due to meningitis and encephalitis, which causes brain tissue swelling. After spending eight months discharged from hospital care, she remained convinced another illness was damaging her health.

She eventually received a diagnosis of Addison's disease, a rare disorder where the adrenal glands fail to manufacture essential hormones like steroids, which can prove fatal if a patient enters an adrenal crisis. She recalled her harrowing symptoms, stating, "My hands, as well as any scars, looked dirty because my skin had become so brown. I was craving anything salty. I could barely eat anything, either, as I would bring anything in my stomach up."

She added, "I couldn't even open a bottle of water as my joints were in so much pain. I couldn't do anything with my daughter. I was always sleeping and losing weight at an incredible rate. I think, in total, I lost three stone in six weeks." Sleeping up to 20 hours daily, she moved back in with her mother, who watched her fade away. When her eyes turned yellow four months after symptoms began, she went to the hospital and heard she had three days left.

Following antiviral treatments for meningitis and encephalitis, she still felt unwell. In August 2018, a family friend referred her to a new physician who immediately suspected Addison's disease. A full body MRI and a round of steroids brought rapid relief. She noted, "Within 20 minutes, I started to feel as though my hands weren't throbbing anymore. A cloud had lifted from around my head and the brain fog began to disappear."

Medical experts prescribed hydrocortisone, fludrocortisone, and vitamin D to stabilize her blood pressure, salt, and water balance, along with an emergency injection kit. According to the NHS, the immune system frequently attacks the adrenal glands to cause the illness, though infections can also trigger it. Doctors believe sepsis from untreated hip arthritis in April 2017 may have triggered Victoria's condition.

While testing also indicated she had a low egg quality making further children unlikely, she later experienced a total surprise when she became pregnant. Expecting bad news at her 14-week scan, she discovered she was carrying twins. On 6 January 2019, she gave birth to two healthy girls.

What is Addison's disease?

Addison's disease is a rare condition where small glands above your kidneys (the adrenal glands) do not work properly.

Symptoms are often the same as symptoms of other conditions, making it difficult to detect at times.

Symptoms of Addison's disease include:

Extreme tiredness
Areas of skin that are darker than surrounding skin - this may be harder to see on brown or black skin
Loss of appetite, weight loss, tummy pain, feeling or being sick and cravings for salty foods
Feeling dizzy or light-headed when standing up
Joint pain, muscle weakness and muscle cramps
Headache
A slightly raised temperature
Feeling thirsty and needing to pee a lot
Difficulty concentrating
Anxiety and depression

Addison's disease most commonly affects adults between the ages of 30 and 50, but it can sometimes affect children.

There's currently no cure for Addison's disease, but there are medicines that can help manage the condition.

If you have Addison's disease, your adrenal glands are not producing enough hormones, including types of hormones called steroids.

So the main treatment is steroid medicine to replace the missing hormones your body needs.

You'll usually need to take your medicine every day for the rest of your life. It's important you always have enough to avoid running out.

Complications of Addison's disease

Adrenal crisis is the most serious complication of the disease. During it symptoms get worse very quickly. This can be triggered by things like an infection, an accident or injury, or surgery.

It can cause problems including:

Severe dehydration
Low blood pressure (hypotension)
Seizures
Loss of consciousness
Stroke
Your heart suddenly stopping (cardiac arrest)

Source: NHS

Reflecting on her journey, Victoria said, "When I think back to how ill I was, and how close I came to not being here, it's quite difficult to believe that I now have my beautiful daughter and my rainbow twins."

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