A mum is 'one of two in the world' to lose an eye to a rare condition that threatened to make it EXPLODE - and now wears a glittery prosthetic.

Holly Swindells, 34, noticed her right eye getting red and painful and she started coughing up blood and getting nosebleeds.

She took several trips to her GP and A&E with no success and ended up bedbound from the pain.

Eventually a blood test revealed she had granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) - a rare type of vasculitis - which is causes inflammation of blood vessels, including in the eyes.

The mum-of-two had to have her right eye removed as doctors warned that her eye pressure was so high it was at risk of bursting.

The coughing up blood and nosebleeds were a result of blood vessels haemorrhaging due to inflammation too.

Holly now feels "empowered" to wear a glittery prosthetic eye because it raises awareness."

Holly - who is not currently working due to illness - from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: "Over time my eye got unbearably painful - it felt like a red hot poker being stabbed through my head constantly."

"I had no idea what GPA vasculitis was - but I was relieved that I finally knew what was wrong."

"By the time I had my eye removed, I had gone blind on that side anyway - I just wanted it out so the pain would stop."

"I've been having treatments to help with painful inflammation in my joints, but I'm not in remission yet."

"Now I want to raise awareness - a lot of people don't know about GPA vasculitis."

"I lost my eye but I've come to accept it - and my daughter loves telling everyone about her mummy's glitter eye." "

Holly - who is mum to Violet, seven and Franklin, three - first got symptoms in December 2021.

She was prescribed steroid eye drops by an optician but her eye remained red, and her joints began to hurt too.

By February 2022, her eye had become "unbearably painful" and her joint pains left her bedbound."

She said: "I felt like my body was shutting down from the pain."

"I couldn't do school runs for my daughter and I couldn't even lift up my baby son."

"I tried everything - cold compresses, painkillers, rest, prescription medication. Nothing helped."

She took countless trips to the GP and A&E but nobody could pinpoint the issue, and she was sent home.

Eventually she rang a specialist eye hospital in March 2022 - and they agreed to see her in person.

That was when blood tests revealed her GPA vasculitis - autoimmune inflammation mainly in the ears, nose, sinuses, kidneys and lungs - and in Holly's case, her eyes too.

A further chest scan revealed her coughing blood and nose bleeds were due to haemorrhages in her lungs because inflammation had prevented oxygen getting in, so the vessels burst.

She spent over two weeks inpatient at Salford Royal Hospital where she had plasma exchanges through an artery in her neck, as well as steroids and chemotherapy to weaken her body's autoimmune responses.

Since then she has had regular treatments but Holly's form of GPA vasculitis is resistant to medication meaning she still suffers with symptoms.

She said: "I struggle to walk because of my joints and my chest. I've had reoccurrences of my lung haemorrhages too."

"Because of the chemotherapy, I get lots of infections too because my immune system is weak. And it's hard to avoid them with two young kids."

By July 2023, she had also gone completely blind in her agonising right eye and doctors concluded removing it was the best option.

She said: "By this point, I was in that much pain that I would have clawed it out with a spoon if I could."

"After it was removed, they biopsied it and found the eye was full of inflammatory tumours that had grown and grown."

"They told me my eye had been about two weeks away from popping in my head."

She had a custom prosthetic fitted - and she opted for a GLITTERY one to stand out in the crowd.

A year on, Holly feels "empowered" to draw attention to her eye because it starts conversations and raises awareness."

She said: "I'd rather people see and know it's fake rather than looking at me and wondering what's wrong."

"You'd think you wouldn't want anyone to know until you actually lose an eye - to me, it feels more normal having a colourful one."

Holly is still having ongoing treatment and suffers with the symptoms of the condition, but is staying positive by channelling her focus into raising awareness.

She added: "I want people to know about the effects GPA vasculitis can have - I've had haemorrhages, sepsis and cellulitis over the years."

"I want people to know the symptoms and go to the doctors straight away if they have any worries."