A woman suffering from four rare and life-threatening medical conditions has been forced to live inside a glass cage for 13 years.
Unable to kiss her husband or hug her children, Juana Munoz from Cadiz in Spain fears she may never be able to hold her first grandchild.
The 53-year-old dreams of the day she can embrace her loved ones again and thanks to a US-made organic dust mask she may be able to very soon.
But for now, she is forced to isolate herself inside a 25-metre glass cage that she’s called home for more than a decade.
Medics are stumped over her four rare conditions, which she has been coping with for 29 years, including chemical sensitivity, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and signs of electrosensitivity, according to Spanish press.
The mother says her conditions started shortly after having her first child, when she came into contact with dust on potatoes covered in an anti-germinating agent., grown by her husband.
Juana was cleaning the potatoes when her right eye began to itch, which she scratched, then her eyes and tongue began to swell and her condition rapidly deteriorated.
She woke up days later in intensive care, lucky to be alive.
“Over the years, I came to the conclusion that the origin of everything lies in the poisoning that I suffered,” she told Spanish press, who she communicated with through a microphone inside several plastic bags, passed to her stretcher in the glass cage.
Since she was forced to live inside the confined space, Manuel has been a huge source of support and grows his own vegetables so that his wife can eat fresh organic food.
The couple are waiting for the organic mask to arrive from a hospital in Dallas before their first grandchild is born.
Juana said: “In a few weeks my grandchild will be born and I do not know if I will be able to hold him at some point in my life.
“The worst thing about living like this is not the pain, it is the physical and psychological damage of not being able to go out and live a normal life with loved ones.”
She is also promoting a campaign on social media called ‘the hug’ to support other people who have to isolate themselves from others due to rare crippling conditions.