Inside young dad's tragic battle with invisible brain condition AVM: 'It started with a headache on the job site'

Daily Mail​

04-05-2025

A young dad has opened up about his harrowing battle with a rare and relentless brain condition that has left him facing constant seizures, strokes, vision loss - and the heart-wrenching questions from daughter: 'Daddy, are you going to die?'
Jack Palmer was just in his early twenties when he first realised something was seriously wrong.
He was on the roof of a job site, working as a carpentry apprentice, when an excruciating headache struck. Within minutes, he couldn't remember the names of the people working beside him.
It was the beginning of a brutal and exhausting journey with AVM (arteriovenous malformation) - a rare, life-threatening condition that causes abnormal tangles of blood vessels in the brain, leading to dangerous bleeds and seizures.
Jack was told he would need Gamma Knife surgery, a type of targeted radiation treatment, so he underwent the procedure and waited.
In his late twenties, Jack experienced a second brain bleed.
'That one was way worse,' he told FEMAIL.
'I was left in excruciating pain for quite a long time. I developed really serious epilepsy from it as well, which unfortunately has controlled my life since then. Completely destroyed it, to be honest.'
Seizures came hard and fast - sometimes out of nowhere.
One moment he'd be driving home from work, the next he'd be waking up in the middle of the road.
'I felt a bit funny and pulled over, and next minute I woke up in the middle of the road. A car driving past woke me up. A fantastic old gentleman gave me a hand and called the ambulance. It was terrifying.'
Each seizure brings a sudden and overwhelming sense of panic.
'You almost feel like you're not there - like it's a dream. You go extremely lightheaded, dizzy, and next minute you wake up in hospital.'
Jack tried to fight back.
He launched his own lawn and gardening business after his health forced him out of full-time work as a carpenter - but then came another seizure in late 2024, this time behind the wheel.
He lost his licence and, with that, his livelihood.
'It was very dependent on being able to drive,' he said.
'I had to shut my business down. That was heartbreaking. You put everything into building something up and then your health just rips it away.'
Trying to find work without a licence, while facing unpredictable seizures, proved almost impossible.
A follow-up MRI revealed a Gamma Knife procedure hadn't been effective, and Jack had his third brain bleed in mid-April.
'I eventually got a job, but then was told the treatment didn't work. Then I had another stroke and lost my vision. It's just been one blow after another,' he said.
This most recent incident, just a week and a half ago, caused permanent damage to Jack's vision.
'I've lost my periphery vision in both eyes,' he explained.
'I can't see anything to the side. If I was to just sit here and look straight in front of me, I'm basically trying to make out what's to the side of me - and there's just nothing there.
'It's not blurry, it's not a bright light, it's just nothing at all.'
He's now struggling to focus, dealing with nerve damage, and trying to accept the possibility that his vision may never return.
Despite the never-ending setbacks, Jack pushes on for his partner Emily and their daughter - even as the emotional toll grows heavier.
'My daughter is seven now,' he said.
'She's starting to understand what's going on. After my latest incident, I walked into her room and she was crying. She asked me, "Daddy, are you going to die?".'
He paused, clearly still shaken.
'Trying to comfort your daughter when you're going in and out of hospital… and all but lying to her face to keep her feeling safe - it was a horrible experience. Just awful.'
Through all the hospital visits, surgeries, and seizures, Jack's family and friends have been supportive - but the cost of the disease has left them stretched thin.
'The medical costs are a massive thing. You're out of work, paying for prescriptions every week, constant doctor visits. It doesn't stop,' he said.
'There's no weekly cost I can even give you. The cost is this: we've never had money left over to do anything but pay bills.'
Jack now awaits news of what comes next - but the options aren't comforting.
'Open brain surgery, radiation, gluing the AVM - they're all on the table. But there's not a lot of circulation in the brain, so you have to wait for the blood to clear before they can even see what's going on,' he said.
There are no guarantees. No clear end. Just more waiting, more scans, more uncertainty.
Beyond the physical and financial challenges, Jack grapples with the emotional burden of his condition.
'You're doing everything you can to be the best person you can… and you just keep getting knocked down,' he said.
'You feel horrible - not being able to give your daughter the life she deserves. Watching your partner live through this constant stress, never knowing what's next. You feel like they could have had a better life without all this.
'And you get to a point where everyone around you has been amazing - I'm so grateful for my friends and family - but I feel like I've just run out of help. I don't want to keep asking.'
Still, Jack refuses to give up.
With every stroke, every seizure, every setback - he fights to get back up.
'I mean, it's been going on so long now it almost feels like normal life,' he said.
'But it has broken me. Time and time again.'
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to assist Jack and his family during this challenging time.
The funds will go toward ongoing medical care, therapy, and living expenses while Jack recovers.
'Jack is a fighter - anyone who knows him will tell you that,' the campaign states.
'But even the strongest need help.'