Countryfile presenter Charlotte Smith has shared her private dementia tragedy after a misdiagnosis left her fearing she had just “years to live”.
The BBC star has had plenty to deal with in her personal life, after doctors mistakenly diagnosed her with a fatal lung condition in 2010.
Charlotte was told she had Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) – a condition characterised by cysts and abnormal growths in the lungs, kidneys and lymphatic system.
However, when she was rushed in for surgery, doctors discovered they were wrong.
She shared at the time: “When I heard I probably had this very rare, potentially serious disease with an unpronounceable name I went into shock. The doctor was honest and told me all the stats, including it being 10 years, on average, between diagnosis and needing a lung transplant or even death.”
Though the decade of life expectancy was only the worst case scenario, Charlotte was left feeling “like my world was collapsing” – worrying that …