tonight on "nightline," sleeping beauty. it is a trance-like sum bertha lasts for more than a week. the mystery condition that seems straight out of a dark fairy tale. what are the symptoms? and is there a cure? slamazons. it's fasts it's furious, it's full contact women's roller derby, making a roaring comeback. turning every day moms into terrors of the track. we go out for a spin. and rage in the shade. our man nick watt faces off against the germans in a summertime battle for the sun lounger. it's a poolside "sign of the times." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, the terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is

"nightline," july 14th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. and in the fairy tale version of sleeping beauty, a kiss is all that's needed to wake up a maiden. but the parents you're about to meet face this nightmare in real life. their daughter began to sleep for days, sometimes a week at a time, with seemingly no medical explanation. and their hunt for a cure became a life quest. abc's juju chang with what they finally found. >> reporter: louisa ball isn't your average oversleeping teenager. >> i think, oh, i'm going to lose my daughter again. >> reporter: she suffers from a rare disease that keeps her in bed, passed out, for weeks at a time, and has her parents losing sleep from worry. >> when you know she's asleep for that length of time, you feel as though you lost her for that period. >> reporter: the ordeal started two years ago, when a case of

the flu triggered the beginning of louisa's extreme sleep episodes. >> it was a difficult time. worried sick, i suppose, is the expression. >> reporter: during her long slum persons, her parents could only rouse her for bathroom breaks and ravenous feeding. >> she would eat five or s sk pacts of crisps. anything she could get her hands on. and it was a case, almost like a hamster hibernating and the food would get stuffed in. >> i saw a dietitian because i was concerned. she's missing out on all the goodness. and the recommendation there said, when she's awake, giv her smoothies. that's what we did for awhile. she'd be getting, like, food as well as fluid. >> reporter: she'd lose ten pounds during an episode. t it wasn't just the odd eating. her behavior was even odder. offensive, almost primal mood

swings. >> it was scary. like a different child. >> reporter: her parents new it was coming on when they otherwise sweet natured daughter would snap at people rudely. >> sleep you can deal with because it's obviously, you know, not as confrontational. but when she's up and confrontational, that was the scarier moments. >> reporter: a year before college, louisa missed weeks of school and fell behind on her beloved dance classes. once a month, for a solid week or so, she'd sleep. did you miss school assignments? >> yeah, i missed the end of school and dance and i missed family holidays, birthdays. >> reporter: at first, the doctors were as baffled as her parents. >> everything goes through your mind. you wonder whether or not she has taken a drug or, you see all the various medical professionals amend not get any chances,s,ecause you go to a doctor and you think s seone is going to have the answer. to go six months that we did

without anybody telling us what it was, it was, you know, pretty frustrating. >> reporter: and then, a breakthrough. >> we got referred, eventually, to a consultant in london. i was referred to it at a champagne and hangover moment, because we went in there and the good news was, i think i know what's wrong with your daughter. and the bad news is, but we know there's no re. >> reporter: as louisa's story unfolded in the media, headlines called her sleeping beauty. we all know the fairy tale, right? beautiful princess. even evil witch. a spinning wheel. a splinter sends the beautiful princess into a 100-year slum r slumber. but hark! a handsome prince. a kiss. and presto. it's happily ever after. only it didn't seem like there would be one this time. louisa was diagnosed with

kleine-levin syndrome, an incurable disorder thatt trigges a reaction in a specific part of the brain. >> it's very important for sleep control, as well as eating, maybe temperature regulation. and irritability. >> reporter: kls more often effects males and usually hits with a virus. it seems to bring on the long hibernation, the aggressive moodiness. >> can become very aggressive. they can hit, punch, scratch. where they normally would no do this. especially if somebody wakes them up. >> reporter: louisa would swear at her mother, something she would never do. >> and that's typical of the disorder. >> reporter: for now, mood stabilizers and hormone therapy may help around the edges. but it doesn't ward off the sleep. when you wake up, louisa, from one of these episodes, does it seem credible to you that you've been asleep for ten days? >> i am confused about what day it is because i don't know how

long i slept for and when i realize, i'm like, wow, that's a long time. >> reporter: what do you feel like? >> refreshed. >> reporter: her long slumbers are less frequent now. she recently went five months without one. and experts say most kls sufferers can outgrow it after 10 or 12 years. and what is the fairy tale that she falls asleep, somebody casts a spell on her, right? >> yeah. >> reporter: so, maybe somebody cast a spell. but there's a handsome prince -- >> handsome prince. >> just waiting. >> reporter: is there a handsome prince in your life? >> no. >> reporter: so, do you feel like a fairy tale come to life? despite the lack of a handsome prince, louisa is not waiting around for a magical kiss. her family doe nates money to the kls foundation in california, in hopes of finding their own magic potion to ward off the dark fairy tale for good.

i'm juju chang for "nightline" in worthing, england. >> thanks to juju chang for that. and just ahead, it's like rug by on roller skates. check out the rough and tumble world of roller derby and try not to get creamed. here at quicken loans, we take special pride

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mary and baby face assassin. here's abc's ryan owens. ♪ >> reporter: if these women look like hell on wheels -- they are. you're in austin, texas, the capital of the lone star state and the cradle of modern day rollerer derby civilization. yes, ready or not, roller derby is back. and it's all grown up. >> let them hear you if you love it, ladies and gentlemen! ♪ >> reporter: meet margaret fackler. by day, a mild mannered math and science teacher. so beloved by her students, she was voted teacher of the year. >> okay, we'll do it. >> reporter: a wife and mother of two. >> i don't like anything else. >> reporter: but by night --

>> fast, faster, go, go, go! >> i like knocking people down. >> reportete she is olivia shootin' john of the hot rod honeys so, how did this young mother go from teaching trig nontry to kids, to body checking grown womeme >> i had no idea what i was getting into. one of the girlfriends that i played soccer with said she wanted to try out and i thought, well, i'll go with you as a supporter. >> reporter: you didn't know what it was? >> i had no clue. i didn't find out until five months later. >> reporter: i mean, this is not like you signed up for shuffle board or something. this is a very violent sport. >> oh, yeah. when i saw my first game, that's when i knew this was the sport for me. >> reporter: she isn't the only one who didn't nope what roller derby was. this sport was huge in the '60s and '70s. but disappeared quicker than a pair of bell bottoms tucked in the back of the closet.

but suddenly, an inexplicably, it's back. >> most women don't get to play organized sports in this same way that little boys do when they grow up. so, i think for a lot of us to have a sport that's a women's only sport, women-dominated sport, is really exciting. and to have it be contact is really fun. >eporter: a group of women here in austin started their own league after a c cversation in a bar. not long after that, bloody mary hit the track and she was hooked. a decade later, she's the executive director of the men's flat track derby association. overseeing hundreds of leagues. >> it's completely sport. which is not to say that it's not showy. it's real game played by real rules. >> reporter: the rules are complicated. but here's the basic idea. each team has a skater called the jammer. who scores points by passing other skaters called blockers. who are doing their best to knock her down. they go around and around like

this for an hour. people say of nascar that the fans are just there waiting for a crash. are your fans waiting for the same thing? ? i think so. >> reporter: you're okay with that? >> sure, yeah, i mean, contact sports are for crashing. that's what's fun. >> reporter: baby face assassin has been sidelined for the season. >> as much as i would like to tell the story about how i got knocked down, it's not what happened. i was skating backward, i turned forwards and my foot didn't want to be where my body wanted to be. >> reporter: broken? >> broken. two spots. >> reporter: you don't worry about getting hurt? >> no, no. i don't. i think i worry more about hurting other people with my over the top play. i love the feeling, like i'm a giant monster who is going to come and take over your space and invade your territory. >> reporter: remind me to stay off the track when you're around. >> reporter: olivia shootin' john skates for the league's

all-star traveling team, the texas texecutioners. during the season, she's on the road almost every weekend. her work week is no picnic, either. >> monday night, i have league practice. tuesday night is when i'm a rec league trainer. wednesday night is another league practice night. thursday nights are home team practice. friday nights, home with the kids. saturday morning, text cushioner practice. sunday there's speed skate practice and there's a hot rod honeys practice. and there is also rec league, if you can make it to all of them. >> reporter: her family makes to a lot, also. her husband and two kids are devoted fans. so are the derby widowers. husbands and boyfriends who cheer at every source and wince at every fall. >> it is definitely concerning, especially because i'm getting married in september and my future wife is out there, i'm like, oh, boy, i hope she

doesn't go in on crutches or something like that. >> reporter: the sport is so popular, it even has a junior league. >> the future of women's flat track roller derby, little girls, getting out there, hitting hard action on the track. >> reporter: the derby bratz. girls as young as 8 with nicknames like hannah mon-slammah and primama basheri. another generation, derbies fans hope, will ensure this sport doesn't disappear again. >> if your daughter wants to play roller derby, you should be like, yes, that is strong women working hard. awesome. >> reporter: i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in austin, texas. hey, check it out. she's using the mr. clean magic eraser bath scrubber. i've heard of it, but i haven't seen one up close. what's the word around the sink? that it removes 3 times more soap scum per swipe, and it came from outer space. it is not from outer space! no, man, it's from outer space. they're aliens on an intergalactic cleanliness mission. they're here to clean up the universe. oh, the kitchen scrubbers are aliens, too?

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oh, baby, it's hot out there. the e ols and the beaches are sure to be packed, but no matter how crowded your summer play ground, we doubt you've misseded the war you're about to witness, though the whole war analogy thing in this case is a little problematic. abc's nick watt has tonight's is the "sign of the times." >> reporter: the british and the germans are still at war. and summer is the fighting season. the skirmishes? over lounge chairs on the beaches and pool sides of southern europe. ♪

♪ ♪ >> reporter: it's early morning. the doors to the pool are unlocked. this amateur video was shot from a spanish hotel balcony. yes, you really are watching vacationers racingngo reserve lounge chairs for a day of tanning. guys, chillax! this is a war with roots we can trace back to may 8th, 1945, when the guns fell silent across europe. britain, the victor, was exhausted by war. west germany, the vanquished, rose again, phoenix like, terminator like. and, in the 1960s, with the

advent of cheap vacacion packages to sunny spain, thehe o sides met again. they met pool side. battle recommenced over the seemingly innocuous lounge chair. >> the germans were getting up very early in the morning, 6:00 sometimes, prebreakfast, laying down their towels, reserving territory. >> reporter: now, 40 years later, look closely. they aren't all germans claiming territory. trust me, i can spot them from a distance. there are brits there, too. these days, brits returning from a night of drinking, dancing and ill considered coupling, will reserve their morning lounge chairs before they even stumble into bed. there's talk of brits sneering german towels with honey to attract insects. a brit sued his travel agent because his hotel was full of germans. he won $1,000 compensation. >> we've become more german than

the german. >> reporter: but now, for the brits, the jaws of vick the tory have vomited defeat. thomas cook, the behemoth travel agent, majority owned by germans, just issued this devastating blow to every british lounge chair lover. as part of a promotion to holly takers in germany, prebookable sun chairs are being offered. prebookable? only available to germans? thomas cook reresed to give me an interview, refused to give me an explanation. could they tell i'm brbrisis could they tell i love a lounge chair? could they tell i'm angry? i'm nick watt for "nightline" in london. >> our thanks to nick watt for not going speedo. and thank you for watching tonight. we do hope you'll check out "good morning america," they'll be working while you