A woman infected with an incurable brain disease due to an NHS operation when she was three years old has told Sky News she is "living with a death sentence".

Natalie Bralee-Brett was born with spina bifida, a birth defect caused by a gap between the brain and spinal cord.

In 1975, her mother Maureen was told by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital that Natalie would have an improved and prolonged life if they operated on her using a new procedure. 

But this, unknown to Maureen at the time, involved taking membrane taken from dead bodies and inserting it into Natalie's spinal cord. Now nearly 40 years later this treatment is the very thing that could kill her.

Image: Natalie Bralee-Brett was born with spina bifida

It has caused microbleeding on her brain, leading to memory loss.

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