I suddenly woke up with black spots in my mouth and bruises all over my body - now I'm bedridden and have been forced to leave my job

A mother-of-three has been dealt a devastating diagnosis after she discovered black spots in her mouth.

Claire Flowers' sister, Tamara, drove her to the local emergency department after noticing spots on the inside of her cheek. 

'In the same day, bruises started coming up. She started getting a purply meningococcal rash that was coming up everywhere,' Tamara said. 

'She went to the emergency department and they took some blood and found she had little to no platelets.' 

Claire, 39, was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) - a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the number of platelets in blood. 

Claire Flowers, left, woke up one morning and found black spots on her lips and inside her mouth. Her sister, Tamara, is pictured right 

The mum-of-three, left, was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) - a rare autoimmune disorder

Tamara said ITP was a 'lifelong disease'.

'She's not going to be able to go back to work. If she gets falls and gets a bruise or a bump or anything like that she could bleed out,' she said.

'If she hadn't gone to the emergency department when she did she might not have actually woken up the next morning.'

Tamara said her Claire's life had been turned upside down in just one day.

'She called me crying today because she doesn't know how to deal with what's going on. She's has three children and supports the household, so all the bills, the rent, everything that the kids need,' she said.

'She's a school teacher for critically disabled children and she loves her job, and she's gone from that to being bedridden. I can't even imagine how she feels.'

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) - is a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the number of platelets in blood, and one of the symptoms can be black spots in the mouth

The diagnosis means Claire (pictured in hospital) will be unable to work full-time 

Tamara said Claire had plans for a 40th birthday bash and a holiday to Europe before the disease took hold. 

'Claire's a very strong person and it's not like her to fall down. And she's been through a lot of tough times. 

'Mentally she's a very strong person, but obviously this is testing her.' 

Tamara said a disease like ITP could seemingly come out of nowhere. 

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'What she's classed with is an immunocompromised disease and it's horrible because it can hit any person at any time in their life - it doesn't have to be something that you're born with,' she said. 

Claire is now taking high doses of steroids and oral chemotherapy. She will need to get a blood test every week to keep an eye on her platelet count. 

Tamara has started a GoFundMe page to help Claire pay her rent and for other expenses while she's unable to work.

'I've managed to get just over $2,000 for her, which is fantastic,' she said. 

'She's just so thankful because she's using it to pay rent and buy food for her kids.'