The Incurable Optimist 

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Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

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The Incurable Optimist

Gwenllian Hughes

Mei Williams

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

BBC One - The Incurable Optimist

Documentary about Amy-Claire Davies, who was born with an unknown genetic condition.

Documentary about 24-year-old Amy-Claire Davies from Swansea who was born with an unknown genetic condition. Although she suffers from pain every day, Amy is an incurable optimist.

24-year-old Amy-Claire Davies from Swansea is an incurable optimist. Born with an unknown genetic condition, she could die any day. While trying to lead a normal life, she lives every day in pain and in constant fear of death.

It’s given her a unique perspective on life and this is a story about a young woman who wants to live life to the full. Despite knowing each day could be her last, she’s looking on the bright side. In her teens, she focused on a whirlwind race to achieve 200 ideas on her bucket list.

Now living in a residential care home in Cardiff, she has hopes and dreams for a bright future. Her sense of independence is important to her but her nursing care will always be around the clock.

She spent her teenage years receiving care at Cardiff’s Ty Hafan children’s hospice. It’s where her end-of-life plan was prepared, along with her choice of funeral songs. Doctors thought she would have died as a child, but fifteen years later, she’s here to share her heartening story of determination and tenacity.

Dealing with pain is a constant battle. As well as taking 41 pills every day, she rations powerful drugs to counteract agonizing spams, which can strike several times a day. They make her heart race at a dangerous rate and she struggles for every breath. 
 
Amy-Claire is a joyful person to be around, despite her condition. Director Mei Williams has followed, and filmed her story, since she was 15 years of age at Ty Hafan. He says she’s always made him laugh and is passionate about sharing her journey, which inspires people to make the most of their lives.

For her, being alive is about making the most of every day. She chooses to be an optimist and dares to think about the future.


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