She was living her new dream life... then it all fell apart

When Gracie Broad arrived in Australia after months of travelling, the young woman was excited for a new life down under.

The 23-year-old had not long settled in Perth when the pain she had been experiencing for years returned to the right side of her face.

The sensation – likened to someone smashing a screwdriver into her face – started when Gracie was a teenager.

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Gracie, from Wigan, was always told she had temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) from grinding her teeth. The condition causes pain, stiffness, clicking or difficulty moving the jaw.

But night guards didn‘t work, and with Botox her only source of relief, Gracie continued receiving injections at the clinic where she worked as a dental therapist in Australia.

A colleague was carrying out the treatment when the noticed Gracie’s symptoms didn't align with those of TMJ – encouraging her to go to hospital.

Gracie underwent an MRI in August 2023 which revealed a large brain arteriovenous malformation, or brain AVM.

A brain AVM is a tangle of blood vessels in the brain that can disrupt normal blood flow and cause bleeding. The condition is rare, affecting just one in 100,000 people, and often goes undetected until it causes an irreparable stroke or worse.

It was also discovered Gracie‘s face pains weren‘t being caused by TMJ disorder. The brain AVM was actually pushing down on a nerve in her face, triggering trigeminal neuralgia – a chronic condition so painful it’s been dubbed the ‘suicide disease’.

The debilitating condition causes sudden, severe, electric shock-like pain in parts of the face, making even every day activities like brushing teeth or touching the face