Wigan woman on road to recovery after getting devastating health diagnosis in Australia

Gracie Broad, 23, should have been having the time of her life in Perth, where she had settled after travelling around Asia and was working as a dental therapist.

But instead pain she had struggled with for several years had returned and she was about to receive the news that she had a potentially devastating brain condition.

Gracie, who lives in Whelley, said: “I have had pain in my face since I was about 18, just down the right side of my face. It’s been really difficult to manage.

"I was a first-year dental therapy student at the time. I went to see all the doctors and dentists and they said it was TMJ disorder, where I was grinding my teeth in my sleep, but I thought it was worse than that because it was really painful.”

She tried everything to manage the pain and the only thing that helped was botox injections.

"I went through dental school only being able to manage the pain by having botox every few months,” she said.

"When I was stressed it got a lot worse, so exam time was really tough.”

Despite the pain and fears she would be held back a year, Gracie completed her degree and graduated, before deciding to travel around east Asia.

She says her pain “massively decreased”, possibly because she was feeling less stressed, and she had an “amazing” time.

She decided to settle in Perth, Australia, in March 2023 and started working in dentistry.

Gracie said: “As soon as I started my job, this pain came back. I was in so much pain.

"I asked the dentist I was working with to do my botox. He was assessing my face and thought it didn’t feel right. He didn’t think it was TMJ disorder and said I needed to go for an MRI.”

She had an MRI scan in August 2023 and doctors found she had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain, which is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, with no capillaries.

It is a very rare condition which can have serious, even life-threatening, consequences and put Gracie at a high risk of strokes and haemorrhages.

Gracie said: “That was absolutely traumatic, to be in another country and not with my family.”

She initially struggled to get help in Australia, as she had travel insurance rather than Australian health insurance, and she had difficulty speaking to doctors in the UK while she was abroad.

Eventually she was offered an appointment in Australia with an English doctor who specialised in AVMs and he referred her to the UK for surgery.

She was told there are only two places in the world offering gamma knife surgery for AVMs and fortunately one of them was in Sheffield.

Gracie was put on the waiting list and managed her pain with medication, until she travelled back to the UK in March for treatment.

She said: “I was on a plane back to the UK and I couldn’t eat or sleep or move my face. So much as a hair brushing against my face and I would burst into tears. It was really scary.”

Gracie went straight to The Walton Centre in Liverpool, where she was given strong medication to manage her pain.

She had gamma knife surgery to tackle the AVM in Sheffield, but it had to be done twice because it was so big.

She said: “They put you in a machine which is like a big MRI and you are in there for up to four hours. It’s a very precise radiotherapy.

"When I had mine, they drilled into my skull and put a frame in that’s attached to the machine to keep me still.”

In the months after the surgery, Gracie’s medication was slowly reduced, so she felt fewer side effects and began to feel more like herself.

She said: “Now I’m finally able to go out and do things and live my life. Hopefully I will be able to go back to work soon. I’m making a very good recovery.”

Doctors have already confirmed that the treatment is working to shrink her AVM, though it can take up to four years.

“I’m still at a high risk of stroke until it’s completely gone, so they have to keep a close eye on me for the next of years, but it’s working,” she said.

"The theory is that because the AVM is sitting on a nerve in my face, as soon as it’s gone, the pain should go.”

While she is recovering, Gracie is organising a fund-raising night in Wigan in aid of The Walton Centre and The Butterfly AVM Charity.

It will be held at The Old Walkabout, on King Street, on Friday, November 22 and involve live performances by a band and three singers, a raffle and a disco.

She said: “When I was at The Walton Centre, I was absolutely shocked to hear that somewhere so wonderful, that does so much in terms of innovative research and treatment, relies on donations. They have a charity for the centre. It makes me so sad because it’s such an important place and I think it should get more funding from the NHS.

"I thought it was important to give back to a centre which has done so much for me.”

Entry to the event costs £10, payable on the door or in advance at www.eventbrite.com/e/gracies-avm-charity-music-night-tickets-1049744834057.