Peterhead mum has rare condition that means her internal organs are ‘back to front’

SAMANTHA SMITHIES is an unusual young woman. Only one in 10,000 people in the world are like her.

The 23-year-old mum-of-three grins: “I’m back to front, literally. My family and friends pull my leg about it all the time.”

But beneath the light-hearted banter lies an acute fear. In the wrong set of circumstances Samantha’s condition could easily end her life.

Samantha, from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, has a rare genetic condition, situs inversus.

That means that all of her vital organs below her heart and lungs are on the wrong side of her body – a mirror image of where they should be.

But she went through an active childhood and three pregnancies, one involving a caesarean section, before it was discovered by chance last year.

She has now decided to share her experience to raise awareness of the little known condition which can also affects the heart and lungs.

In Samantha’s case her liver is on her left instead of her right side. Her stomach is also in the wrong position, on her right instead of her left, and her pancreas, gall bladder, spleen and appendix are similarly affected.

If she has an accident or falls ill and is unconscious without loved ones to sound the alert, paramedics, accident and emergency teams and surgeons would not be aware and their intervention could prove fatal.

So it is vital she wears a medical wrist band highlighting her condition 24/7, every day of her life.

But the plucky single mum also has it in her genes to smile through her fear, thanks to her brave parents Justine and Julie Smithies, whose remarkable transgender love story and their intention to remarry was exclusively revealed in The Sunday Post.

The family have already endured unimaginable heartache with the loss of Samantha’s only brother, 15-year-old Cameron, in a cliff fall four years ago.

The couple are now keeping close tabs on Samantha, helped by their other daughter, Morgan,16.

Samantha – mum to Ellie, 11 months, Harrison, three, and Harmony, six – says: “My mums are brilliant and have always been there for us. I don’t know what I would do without them.”

Neither Justine or Julie have the condition and it has not been passed to Harrison who was scanned after his caesarean birth. But Harmony and Ellie have yet to be screened.

Samantha – who as a result is more prone to infections and painful inflammation of the pancreas – says: “I really hope they don’t have it. I have to wear the medical bracelet all the time.

“If I were in an accident and couldn’t speak no one would know what’s wrong with me. If I needed surgery the surgeons could cut me in the wrong place and that could be life-threatening.

“In a normal body all the organs fit like a jigsaw. But with situs invertus they don’t and some become squeezed and that can cause complications.

“I am quite scared when I think about it because it seems that even within the medical world, not a lot of people are aware of this condition.

“I can’t believe I’ve lived all this time without knowing about it. I was a healthy, active kid.

“I played football, rode my bike, had a newspaper round and I did a Duke of Edinburgh Award, which involved walking up hills and helping out with the Beavers youth group.

“My first baby was a textbook delivery. I was only in labour six-and-a-half hours before she was born and I was out and walking around Asda with her the same day.

“I fell pregnant with Harrison when she was two.”

But although that pregnancy was largely good, at 39 weeks, Samantha went into early labour.

She recalls: “I was sitting on the stairs and felt like I wanted to push but something was in the way.

“I had trained Harmony to phone my mum in an emergency. My mum took Harmony while mummy Justine took me to Peterhead Community Hospital.

“The umbilical cord was presenting first and Harrison was suffocating so I was rushed to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital by ambulance.”

Samantha was given an emergency caesarean section and warned that Harrison was likely to have been starved of oxygen and might only have 24 hours to live.

The young mum – who doesn’t know if her medical condition was a contributory factor – says: “It was the longest 24 hours of my life. But Harrison pulled through and has been OK ever since.

“Even with the C-section the surgeons did not notice anything wrong with my body at the time. It’s bizarre.

“I went home with Harrison a week after he was delivered and life went back to normal.

“I met Ellie’s dad in 2015 and fell pregnant quite quickly. She was not planned and this time round I was scared.

“I kept getting quite unwell. At 19 weeks I was vomiting and sweating and just couldn’t walk or move anywhere.

“Ellie’s dad insisted we went to A&E in Peterhead. I was sent home after an anti-sickness injection but things just got worse and I was back the next day.

“At that point I was sent to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital where I was put on a drip to tackle dehydration and administer pain killers.

“The next day I was taken for an x-ray, scans and blood tests. The x-ray came back clear, but the blood tests showed I had an infection.

“It was during an ultra sound scan that it was discovered I had situs inversus.

“The doctor wanted to know if I had been aware I had it, but I had to ask what it was. That’s when he told me my organs were back to front and it was a very rare. It was a huge shock.”

Doctors also told Samantha they suspected her gall bladder was the cause of her infection, and it was poisoning her system.

They gave her antibiotics – and a chilling warning.

“They said they might have to take the gall bladder out,” she remembers.

“But they also said they would have to remove the baby first as she probably wouldn’t survive in the womb. At 19 weeks it was unlikely she would survive outside of it.”

It came as a massive relief when the antibiotics brought the infection under control.

However, as a precaution, a caesarean section was planned to take place 39 weeks into the pregnancy and Ellie was born safely.

Samantha says: “It has been an emotional roller coaster.

“But if it hadn’t been for the infection I would probably have never discovered that I have this rare condition. I am very careful with myself now.

“And I am very lucky that I have the support of my wonderful family.”