A little girl who was born blind has astounded doctors by recovering her vision and ‘healing herself’ of a normally life-long brain disease.
Evie-Mae Geurts, aged seven, lives in Bristol with her mother Amy, 28, and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at the age of eight months. The pressure inside her skull was 32 times normal, and physicians cautioned that while they might help ease the discomfort and buildup, brain damage had already occurred.
Doctors warned Evie’s mother, Amy, 28, that the sustained pressure meant her daughter’s sight would be lost permanently and she would likely never learn to walk or talk.
Against all chances, Evie’s vision returned when she was a toddler, and she also learnt to walk and talk, and her hydrocephalus mysteriously vanished last year.
Full-time mother Amy added that Evie is fantastic. They are extremely proud of her. The physicians stated that they didn’t know what would occur due to the delay in diagnosis. They didn’t know when she’d be able to see, walk, or communicate again.
She is now shunt-free, talking, walking, and studying ahead of her age. They don’t comprehend that she was globally delayed and now she’s really ahead. She’s a wonderful, fearless young child.
Amy originally brought Evie to Bristol Children’s Hospital in 2014 after a nasty illness left her with very red eyes. When the physicians shined a lamp in her eyes, they discovered she had no visual reactions and declared her blind.
As Evie’s head continued to expand, Amy rushed her back to the doctor, concerned that she could have hydrocephalus. She explained that she knew about hydrocephalus since her brother has it, and she assumed it would be why she didn’t have eyesight, but she was assured she was mistaken as she was a happy baby. Though she was pulling her hair out, she was warned that if she had hydrocephalus, she’d be even worse.
Amy sought aid from her brother’s neurosurgeon, who diagnosed Evie, who was eight months old at the time. Amy went to Bristol Children’s Hospital with the diagnosis in April 2015, and she refused to leave until Evie was examined. She alleges she waited 10 hours at A&E before Evie was seen and informed her soft spot was full of fluid.
The next day, she had surgery. Amy explained that when she came out of the operating room, the doctor stated it was good that she brought her in at that time as she had incredibly high pressure in her head. There’s so much pressure. Your brain pressure should be zero, and on a terrible migraine, it should be five, but Evie’s was 32 and higher when they measured it. She may have died.
They indicated there was a risk she’d never walk or talk since a delay in diagnosis can stop youngsters from walking or talking. She was heartbroken. To empty the fluid into her bladder, Evie had a shunt implanted within her brain.
She came back home and gradually gained vision over the next year as the shunts operated to relieve pressure on her brain. Amy was told that this is quite rare for a kid who had been mistreated for so long. Evie started walking at the age of two, and after learning Makaton, she started to talk.
Amy expressed that the physicians stated that due to the late diagnosis, they weren’t sure what would occur. They didn’t know when she’d be able to see, walk, or communicate again. She learned Makaton and then finally began talking, so she got eyesight, signed, and then spoke.
Evie began having headaches again in April 2019, and doctors had to drill into her skull to insert a needle. The pressure was 40 times more than planned, and it was discovered that her shunt was obstructed, so she was installed with a new one.
Amy explained the scream she gave out when they took out the needle. She’ll never forget it, she says.
The symptoms reappeared in January 2021, and they dreaded the worst. However, physicians realized that they had returned as they no longer required the shunt, which was ‘splitting’ the no longer pressurized ventricles.
Amy recalled that the doctor couldn’t comprehend it. He assumed they had been in and out of the hospital every few years since the shunts kept clogging, but it turned out she’d healed herself. He stated he’d never seen it before and had no expectation of seeing it in her.
Doctors decided to eliminate both shunts inside Evie’s brain, an unusual treatment owing to the danger of shunt removal triggering a stroke or brain hemorrhage. Fortunately, the operation went well, however Evie had viral meningitis and had to stay in the hospital for four days on antibiotics.
Evie, aged seven, is living her life as a healthy kid with great vision. She still has vision exams every six months to track her development, but physicians are astounded.
Proud Amy remarked, they can’t believe it. Because they had to remove her hair to have access to the equipment, she refers to herself as Rapunzel.
‘They told her she’d been courageous at the salon, and she remarked that much like Eugene trimming Rapunzel’s hair to save her in Tangled, the doctors cut my hair off to save me.’
‘Evie is incredible.’ A wonderful miracle. Indeed wonderful news for her and her family.
