My girl died suddenly in her sleep with rare condition

A mom has been left heartbroken after her daughter died in her sleep last week.

Danielle Marie Lewis, 20, suddenly passed away at home a few years after being diagnosed with a rare condition.

Her devastated mom, Kirsten, said she had suffered with Gardner syndrome — with five of her six kids now diagnosed.

It is a rare genetic illness with reduced life expectancy, which is an offshoot of familial adenomatous polyposis.

This is when a person develops more than 100 colon polyps (growths), but people who have Gardner syndrome can have these growths anywhere in the body.

It can make the risk of developing cancer much greater, with patients often tragically dying young.

The trainee nursery worker had surgery two years ago to remove tumours in her breast and abdomen.

And for the last eight months she had suffered with “severe” sleep apnea, and would fall asleep everywhere.

She had been sent a referral for a sleep study, but died days later on March 3.

Kirsten told Plymouth Live: “My husband’s a carrier, and so is his mum, and now he’s passed it on to my children.

“It’s that gene that causes desmoid tumours to grow. They can be sporadic, and they can grow any part of the body.

“My husband’s mother has had extensive surgery all over for removing them. But she’s 77, she’s had a full life. But she’s lived with the condition.”

She told of the harrowing morning she found her daughter had died in bed.

The mom said she’d been asked to “help wake Danielle as she wouldn’t wake up.”

She added: “I walked into her room and knew she was gone.

“I screamed for help but I knew in my heart she was gone. I have never felt so much pain in my life. My beautiful baby girl was gone.

“Danielle was only two months away from being fully qualified to become a nursery assistant, a job she loved and really enjoyed.”

She revealed she has been told Danielle had COVID when she died, but the mum doesn’t believe that is her cause of death.

The family has set up a fundraising page to help with funeral costs.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.