A beautiful Thai model who was struck down with a mystery illness was found emaciated and living in a squalid apartment before being rescued by doctors.

Prapassorn Pakchumni, 31, contacted the Paweena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women for help last week when she became so weak she was unable to walk.

Shocked paramedics discovered the skeletal woman lying in a room strewn with rubbish, plastic bags, and takeout containers in a filthy house in the capital Bangkok on February 29.

They took Prapassorn to a hospital for a check-up as she was severely underweight, with the muscles on her legs having atrophied from her sickness.

Paweena Hongsakul, the founder of the charity, said: 'Prapassorn had previously contacted the Paweena Foundation for assistance. She told us of her illness, and that she had no one to take care of her. She said she would sometimes eat mouldy leftover food to stave off her hunger.

'She asked for help to treat her unknown illness, so she could return to having a normal life and earn money to support herself.'

Prapassorn said she used to work as a model for clothing catalogues and online shops. She would earn around 60,000 baht (1,300 GBP) each month, which she used to pay for her parents' chemotherapy.

She said her family had a history of cancer, with her grandfather dying of brain cancer, her father suffering liver cancer, and her mum succumbing to cervical cancer.

She said: 'I have been living alone for two years. I used to live with my family, but they all died due to cancer.

'During the pandemic, I lost my job in the entertainment industry and depleted most of my savings. When Thailand reopened, I was able to work again, but my income was still low.'

Misfortune struck last year when Prapassorn, suffering intense abdominal pains, had to undergo surgery to remove gallstones. She managed to recover from the operation but found her weight dropping at an alarming rate.

Doctors are still unable to identify her sickness and have focused on treating her symptoms such as urinary incontinence and inflammation for the time being.

Prapassorn was confined at the Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok due to her precarious condition. Medics are now trying to diagnose the cause of her weight loss and sickness.