Horrific disease explained after 25-year-old chooses to end her life with voluntary assisted dying

causing disruption to a number of bodily functions. Annaliese’s case is so severe that she is unable to eat anything; her nutrition comes from a specialized source pumped directly into her body.

The Cleveland Clinic state that common symptoms of AAG can include things like constipation, dilated pupils, dry mouth or dry eyes, fainting, urinary retention, and low blood pressure when you move to stand up.

Worst of all, the condition is so rare that there is no standardized treatment for it at present. Medical help is instead offered on a case by case basis, with treatment focusing on managing and minimizing symptoms where possible.

The success of this, of course, varies from patient to patient, and Annaliese has a particularly virulent case.

Terminally ill 25-year-old chooses to die on ‘own terms’ after battling rare illness her entire life: ‘Please let me go’ https://t.co/p26N4urXLO pic.twitter.com/mylJD14L6a

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Over the years she’s had to undergo multiple operations, resulting in meters of her bowel being removed.

“My stool would back up so much that I would throw it up or drain it out my tummy,” she explained. “I was put on something called Total Parenteral Nutrition or TPN and that’s basically a bag of nutrition that’s delivered directly into your bloodstream through like, a line in your chest.”