Student, 22, has a rare condition that leaves her unable to eat without instantly throwing up

The mum of a student with a rare condition that leaves her unable to eat without instantly throwing up has said seeing her daughter like that is “soul destroying.”

Emma Tuck, 22, became ill “out of the blue” three years ago when she developed a bilateral kidney stone which led to an infected kidney.

She had surgery and went on antibiotics to help fight the infection, but this suddenly killed her natural gut bacteria and paralysed her gastrointestinal system, meaning she could not digest her food.

Her mum Helen Tuck, from Doncaster, said: “It just destroys me to be honest. She’s young and she’s just one of the nicest kids.”

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The family are raising £40,000 on GoFundMe for a gastric pacemaker which is not available on the NHS.

It will allow her to eat as normal - without her throwing up straight after.

Emma told Leeds Live: "I can still eat and really do enjoy eating but unfortunately it comes back up and I end up vomiting around 20 times afterwards. I do miss my food."

When she was healthy, Emma weighed around 50kg but soon dropped to just 35kg when she became ill.

She has now managed to build her weight back up, but if she gets an infection, she loses around 4kg.

Emma cannot live a normal life as she has spent months in hospital and cannot socialise due to the risk of getting an infection.

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Helen added: “We are quite close because she’s 22 but hasn’t fled the nest and still needs my support.

“It’s full on looking after her, because she has a lot of drugs and can’t take anything orally, I have to crush them for her.

“It’s tough because she just wants to be normal.”

Helen is doing everything she can to raise money for the treatment - including breeding a litter of puppies.

She said: "When Emma found out the cost of the treatment, she just burst into tears.

"I told her we would do whatever it takes, even if that means remortgaging the house or selling our pensions.

"But Emma disagreed and said it wasn't right, because she said that we need to live and our pensions are what we have worked for.