My name is Karen van Zijl age 47, born in South Africa and have Variegate Porphyria, here is my story.

Some see what they lost; I see what I gained.

At the age of 23, I was officially diagnosed as having the hereditary disease Variegate Porphyria, otherwise known as ​ VP, Porphyria Variegate, South African Genetic Porphyria​​ or as some have called it “the vampire disease” ​. ​