'I am going to live life to the full and refuse to have any regrets' ech2 IT'S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE Miss Wales contestant Victoria Curtis turned her life around after being wrongly diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. She tells CATHY OWEN why it is so important for her to help others...

Byline: CATHY OWEN

VICTORIA Curtis is determined to live her life to the full.

She may only be 22 but since being misdiagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, the Miss Wales contestant changed her life around - and snow she wants to ensure she doesn't have any regrets.

It was Christmas 2006 when Victoria, from Caerphilly, first started to feel unwell.

The then 20-year-old started to have chest pains, was finding it hard to breathe and could only walk about five paces without having to stop and catch her breath.

But the alarm bells really started ringing when she started coughing up blood.

"It had been going on for a few weeks," explains Victoria.

"But when I started coughing up blood and finding it hard to breathe at night, I knew it was quite serious and went to the doctor.

"I kept going back and forth to the doctors and having lots of tests as they tried to find out what was wrong with me."

When the results came back, the news was not good.

Doctors were concerned about the dangerously high level of antibodies in her blood and diagnosed a rare disease called Goodpasture's syndrome.

It is a disease that can cause rapid destruction of the kidneys and bleeding into the lungs. In extreme cases it can be fatal.

"I was so shocked when my GP told me," says Victoria.

"When your doctor is even shaking his head, then you know it is bad.

That made us even more worried because of his reaction.

"He told me and my mum that he had never seen it before but the news was bad. I was told that it would most likely mean that my kidneys would fail and I could be on dialysis for life.

"And there was danger to my lungs as well in that they could bleed and suffocate me.

"I was just in total shock and I did the worst thing you can do. I went home and looked it up on the internet. It was terrifying to read people's stories. I wanted to know more about it but what I did read scared me. I can't remember much about what was going through my head at that time, it was just total and complete shock."

The rest of Victoria's family had to be tested and she decided to seek further advice privately.

Doctors there did more tests and found that the original antibody count had been wrong and Victoria didn't have Goodpasture's syndrome after all.

Several other diseases can cause a similar picture which is why it is so difficult to diagnose.

"As you can imagine it was such a relief, but I have never got to the bottom though of what it was," says Victoria.

"They thought it might be some sort of pneumonia or bronchitis but I still felt ill for a long time.

"I was just so relieved though that I didn't have the syndrome."

Now totally fit and healthy, the scare has not had a lasting effect on her health but has completely changed Victoria's outlook on life.

Before she was ill, she worked as a nursery nurse but gave that up to go to university, where she is currently studying for a BSc in health and social care at Uwic's Llandaff campus.

And it also spurred her on to enter this year's Miss Wales contest, something she had dreamed about but hadn't had the confidence to do before now.

"After being faced with such a serious illness, I started looking at life very differently," admits Victoria.

"It has just made me realise how precious life really is. I have always wanted to help people so I hope to become a social worker when I finish my university degree course.

"It is also the reason why I entered Miss Wales.

"And it was a fantastic experience. It is a lot more than just a beauty contest. It is more of a beauty pageant with a purpose.

"The charity work you do through the competition was something I really wanted to do. I realise how important life is and want to do more for charity now."

Victoria lost two aunties to cancer within six weeks of each other, so a lot of her charity work is raising money for the Bobby Moore Fund, which raises money for research into bowel cancer.

And at the glittering Miss Wales contest, held in Cardiff International Arena earlier this month, it is no surprise that Victoria won the award for being the most driven contestant.

"It really was the most fantastic night," said Victoria.

"I have a big family and they were there to support me all the way on the night. They are so proud of me and they have been really great for me throughout this all.

"I want to carry on helping people and doing more fundraising. And for now I am determined that I am going to live life to the full and refuse to have any regrets."

What is Goodpasture's syndrome?

It is a rare disease that can affect the lungs and kidneys.

Also called anti-glomerular basement antibody disease, it is an autoimmune disease - a condition in which the body's own defence system reacts against some part of the body itself.

When the immune system is working normally, it creates antibodies to fight off germs. In Goodpasture's syndrome, the immune system makes antibodies that attack the lungs and kidneys.

Why this happens is not fully understood.

Researchers have identified a number of possible causes, among them the presence of an inherited component; exposure to certain chemicals, including hydrocarbon solvents and the weed killer Paraquat; and viral infections.

Bleeding in the lungs can be very serious and even fatal in some cases. But Goodpasture's syndrome does not usually lead to permanent lung damage.

Damage to the kidneys, however, may be long-lasting. If the kidneys fail, dialysis to remove waste products and extra fluid from the blood, or kidney transplantation, may become necessary.

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NEW PERSPECTIVE: Victoria Curtis today and as a contestant in the Miss Wales competition, inset right PICTURE: Andrew James