After 26 years I found out I have a rare brain condition that affects just three percent of the population.

Last year, I discovered that I have aphantasia, a phenomenon in which people have no visual imagination and do not have a ‘mind’s eye’ – meaning that they can’t picture anything in their head.

There are a few ways to find out whether you have aphantasia, the simplest way would be to close your eyes and count sheep.

Can you actually picture a flock jumping over a fence? Or, like me, do you just see the back of your eyelids – blackness.

I’ve always thought counting sheep was a figure of speech, and have lay in bed just counting in my head and thinking of sheep but not actually picturing them.

So, it was crazy when I found out other people can – one of my friends even gloated that he can imagine them doing backflips over a fence.

The phenomenon was first described by Victorian polymath Francis Galton in 1880 when he published a paper on mental imagery.

But it was not until 2015 when a publication of a study, conducted by a team led by Professor Adam Zeman of the University of Exeter, coined the term aphantasia.

The name was derived from the ancient Greek word phantasia, meaning imagination and the prefix ‘a’ – meaning without.

A perplexed Joe Yates pondering life after discovering he has rare brain condition (UNILAD)

Speaking to UNILAD, Zeman explained: “I try to avoid calling it a condition, as I don’t think it is pathological, and tend to speak of ‘an intriguing variation in human nature’.

“For people with lifelong aphantasia, which is much, much the commonest form, probably a subtle alteration of brain connections, such that thought translates less readily into image than for most of us – this, in turn, may have an at least partially genetic basis.

“Rarely, aphantasia can be acquired as a result of brain injury or psychological upset – depression, depersonalisation especially.”

He added: “In terms of treatment – it’s probably not needed. People with aphantasia get along just fine and there may be advantages to not being bombarded with images… which is lucky as there is currently no reliable way of ‘curing’ aphantasia.”

Over the years I’ve listened to people moan about poor film castings from book to screen adaptations, and I never understood why they were so passionate about them until I realised that the vast majority of people can create vivid scenery and images of characters.

Joe blinded by the sun while visiting friends in London alongside fiancée Meg Egan (UNILAD)

There are different variations of visual imagery; some people can imagine a red star and see it in their head as clear as anything in real life – these people have hyperphantasia, while others struggle to see anything at all.

There is a spectrum of mental imagery, on one end is people like myself, who can’t picture anything, and on the other is those that can imagine things and see them perfectly clear and lively – almost as real as seeing it.

In between, you have people that can visualise dim and vague images, others that can picture things moderately clear and lively – and those that can visualise things clear and lively.

Just how many people ‘suffer’ with aphantasia differs from study to study, in fact Zeman believes the frequency varies from as little as one percent of the population to as many as four percent.

The professor added: “Depending on where the line is drawn, one percent if you only include people who score as low as possible on our vividness questionnaire – indicating that they only ever ‘think’ about the images that most people visualise.”

Joe might be blind in the mind but he can find his way to a bar (UNILAD)

Another way people can find out whether they have the condition would be to close their eyes and imagine a ball on a table and someone pushes it and it rolls forward.

Then ask yourself what gender was the person? What color was the ball? What kind of table was it? When I thought about it, I imagined a hand on its own pushing a white ping pong ball, on a ping pong table, but of course could not picture it.

It also explains why I’ve always thought guided meditation was a farce.

‘Picture yourself on a beach’ as I again lie there thinking about it, but seeing blackness.

A 30-year-old man’s life completely changed after suffering a stroke.

Liam Rudd and his girlfriend, Stella Slinger Thompson, 28, were fulfilling their shared ‘dream’ of moving to the Gold Coast in Australia, and Liam had been ‘excited’ to start his new job as a fleet mechanic last month.

However, Liam suffered from a stroke in the shower and fell to the bathroom floor paralyzed on Sunday, November 11, before Stella found him.

Liam Rudd has been left wheelchair-bound after suffering a stroke (Kennedy News and Media)

After being rushed to hospital, he had two rounds of emergency surgery to remove blood clots in his brain and was put in an induced coma.

Doctors haven’t confirmed what caused the stroke but think it may be linked to a fibroelastoma, a benign tumour that can grow on the heart valves.

Stella was due to meet Liam for lunch with friends on the Sunday in question and became concerned when he wasn’t answering his phone.

After finding him lying on the bathroom floor, she called an ambulance.

Liam had recently relocated to Australia with his girlfriend, Stella (Kennedy News and Media)

Recalling the day it happened, Stella said: “He was late picking me up. Usually he is a bit late so I didn’t think much of it. But I was calling him for over an hour. I would call then it would ring and it would pick up and decline.

“I thought ‘this is odd’. Then finally after an hour he picked up. He wasn’t making any sense. All I could make out was him saying ‘help’. So I rushed round and also called three of his friends.”

At first, everyone believed he had a concussion, but things quickly deteriorated.

Liam was left fighting for his life after the health scare on November 11 (Kennedy News and Media)

Liam became unresponsive on his left side and after arriving at the hospital, doctors revealed he’d had a stroke and needed emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain.

However, during surgery, doctors found a second blood clot that was too ‘high risk’ to operate on immediately and he had to have a second surgery the next day.

Now Stella and Liam are having to put their Australia dreams on hold and return back to the UK for Liam to receive the care he needs.

His girlfriend has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help them get home. The pair hope to return Down Under once Liam has made a full recovery.

His intensive rehabilitation is expected to last for at least a year and a half.

While doctors are optimistic about his recovery, Liam’s future isn’t clear.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” admitted Stella.

“He could be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Who knows at this stage. It’s a lot of living in limbo and trying to stay positive but not really knowing anything.”

A Japanese woman revealed the two things she ate every single morning to help her live to the grand old age of 116 years old.

Tomiko Itooka was recognized as the oldest person in the world for the last few months of her life following the death of Maria Branyas Morera, a Spanish woman who died in August at the age of 117.

That was until December 29, when Itooka tragically passed away on the same day as the former US President Jimmy Carter – who also died a centenarian.

Tomiko Itooka sadly passed away at the age of 116 in December 2024 (Ashiya Municipal Government)

Itooka was born on May 23, 1908 – six years before the first world war – before dying in December 2024 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.

The mayor of Ashiya, which is roughly a 20-minute journey from Osaka, released the following statement: “Ms. Itooka gave us great courage and hope throughout her long life. I would like to express my gratitude once again.”

She enjoyed 51 years of marriage with her husband Kenji Itooka, who she shared four children with – two daughters and two sons – but he sadly passed away in 1979.

So, what was her secret to a long life?

Well, she enjoyed two specific things every morning – a banana and a yogurt-flavored Japanese dairy drink called Calpais… so if you want to live to a grand age, you might want to ditch the sausage and egg and replace it with banana and yogurt.

According to the Guinness World Records, Itooka was an avid hiker and remarkably, she recounted at the age of 100 she climbed Mount Ontake – a 3,067-meter peak – twice.

Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun who was born just 16 days after Itooka, is now believed to be the world’s oldest person.

Whenever you hear someone has ticked over 100 years, our natural thought is what is their secret?

It is usually about what they eat rather than what they do, as they more than likely haven’t had a laborious job down the mine.

Itooka enjoyed a banana and a Japanese dairy drink every morning (Ashiya Municipal Government)

One of the longest living cities in the entire world – based on residents who live to 100 years and beyond – is situated in the US, or more specifically in the city of Loma Linda, California.

It has been dubbed the ‘Blue Zone’ and it is populated by a number of Seventh-day Adventists – a Protestant Christian denomination commonly known for avoiding alcohol and smoking and observing a meat-free diet.

The residents there have their own secret, if you are to follow in the footsteps of most senior of all seniors in the world… you should dish up a bowl of oatmeal.

Every. Single. Day.

The Scout Motto says it best: Be Prepared. And no one is more prepared than ex-government contractor Larry Hall.

Hall is quite literally ready for anything, because he’s the proud creator of the ‘Survival Condo’ – an underground bunker capable of withstanding the end of the world.

While the rest of us all turn into zombies, attempt to run from an Earth-destroying asteroid or finally succumb to rising sea levels, Hall will be living a life of luxury in Kansas. At least, he could be if the apocalypse happens in his lifetime, which it hopefully won’t.

From the outside, the bunker looks like nothing more than a huge, mysterious door built into the land. But the inside is a very different story.

Through the eight-ton steel doors hides a staggering 15 floors of underground bunker, which is home to a swimming pool, a climbing wall, arcade and a cinema to keep residents entertained, as well as a medical bay, food stores and living quarters to keep them healthy and comfy.

Already it sounds like the kind of place you’d never need to leave, but the bunker also comes equipped with camouflage gear, guns and helmets in case those living there do need to venture into the outside world and tackle whatever it is that brought an end to humanity.

YouTube/Logic Integratiom

YouTube/Logic Integration

Hall created the incredible bunker out of an Atlas missile silo, but following a spike in interest amid the coronavirus pandemic he now has several more of the structures in development throughout the US, Europe and Asia.

The Survival Condo website explains that the silos which house the bunkers were built by the Army Corps of Engineers and are the ‘designed to survive a direct nuclear strike.’

The upper section of the silo is made of epoxy-hardened concrete walls which are nine feet thick, while the dome structure that covers the top of the silo is able to withstand winds in excess of 500mph.

Survival Condo

Survival Condo

Up to 75 people living in the silos would be able to survive inside for more than five years, according to the site, all the while enjoying the ‘ultra modern’ finishings it has to offer.

Touting all the benefits of the bunker, Hall said: “This project has the advantages of letting the members own a piece of history, the coolness of a missile base, the protection of a nuclear hardened bunker, and the features of a luxury condo.”

It is possible to buy a spot in one of the silos, but obviously the ability to survive the end of the world comes at a price – a price of between $1.5 million (£1.2m) to $4.5 million (£3.6m), to be precise.

So, congratulations if you’re a millionaire… otherwise, good luck.