When a mother noticed her months-old daughter’s eyes were turning red, she took her to the doctor, believing it was the flu. She had no idea that physicians would diagnose her daughter with a rare condition and tell her that she might never see, walk, or talk. As a parent, watching your child undergo surgery is a harrowing event that needs a great deal of bravery. Parents that go through this process either see their children recover or have to tell their children farewell for good!
When the mother in today’s article took her kid to the doctor, she experienced something similar. She couldn’t believe it when the doctors told her that her young girl had a rare disease. However, the girl defied the doctor’s expectations and went on a miracle recovery journey a few years later. Amy noticed her months-old daughter, Evie-Mae Geurts, had red eyes after recovering from a cold in 2014. Amy immediately brought Evie to Bristol Children’s Hospital in the United Kingdom for a check-up.
The physicians detected no response from Evie when they shone a torch in her eyes. The physicians informed Amy that her daughter was blind after confirming the symptoms. After learning that her daughter would not be able to enjoy her life like other children, the mother’s world came crumbling down around her. Amy returned to the hospital, however, when she spotted Evie’s head swelling. She assumed it was due to a condition known as hydrocephalus. The mother stated:
«I knew of hydrocephalus because my brother has it, and I thought that might be why she had no vision, but I was told I was wrong because she was a smiley baby.» Regardless of what the doctors said, Amy was certain Evie had hydrocephalus. She took her 8-month-old daughter to her brother’s neurosurgeon to confirm her suspicions. Amy thought she wouldn’t have to see her daughter go under the knife again, but that wasn’t the case. The neurosurgeon diagnosed Evie with hydrocephalus after evaluating her.
Amy returned to Bristol Children’s Hospital with her daughter’s reports, pleading with the physicians to see her and threatening to leave if they didn’t. After a 10-hour wait at the emergency room, physicians phoned Evie and verified that she had hydrocephalus. They booked surgery for the following day in order to treat it as quickly as feasible.
Amy brought her baby to the hospital the next day and saw her enter the operating room. Waiting for Evie to come out of there was a challenge for me as a mother. Doctors then informed Amy that Evie’s condition was severe and that Amy had brought her to the hospital at the appropriate time. Amy elaborated:
«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.»Amy explained, «She could have died.» The physicians revealed that if therapy was delayed, Evie might be unable to walk or communicate. Fortunately, the procedure was conducted before it was too late.
The operation allowed Amy’s brain fluid to drain into her bladder. After a year, Evie’s eyesight improved as the fluid drained and the pressure inside her skull reduced. Amy thought she wouldn’t have to see her daughter go under the knife again, but that wasn’t the case. Evie’s vision suddenly healed, and she began walking at the age of two. However, the child still need glasses to see properly. Amy forced her to learn Makaton, and as a result, her daughter began to speak. «The doctors admitted that because of the delay in diagnosis, they weren’t sure what would happen,» Amy explained.
They weren’t sure if she’d ever be able to see, move, or speak.»Amy seemed less concerned about Evie’s hydrocephalus as she grew older. Her daughter appeared to have overcome the condition until one day when she complained of odd pain. Amy was concerned when Evie began experiencing mysterious headaches in April 2019. She took Evie back to the hospital, where the doctors discovered that the pressure within her head had unexpectedly grown, necessitating another surgery.
Because the existing shunt had been blocked, the physicians had to insert a new one. Evie never complained about the headaches again after the surgery until almost two years later.Amy took Evie to the hospital in January 2021 after she complained of a headache. The pressure inside Evie’s skull, however, had not grown this time. Instead, Evie was in anguish because her body no longer required the shunt. Amy stated:
“The doctor couldn’t believe it – he thought we’d be in and out of the hospital every few years because the shunts kept blocking, but it turned out that somehow she’d cured herself!” The doctors said they hadn’t seen such a miracle before and weren’t expecting Evie to recover like that. Her recovery surprised them, but they still had to perform another surgery before they could allow her to go.It was difficult for Amy to see her little daughter undergo surgeries often. However, she had no choice but to wait patiently and pray for the surgeries to go well.
This time, the procedure involved removing two shunts, which was riskier and much more complicated than Evie’s earlier surgeries. Fortunately, Evie came out of the operation theatre after successful surgery, but she had to stay in the hospital for a few more days because she had viral meningitis. Evie was allowed to go home after she recovered from the viral infection. After going through the worst for years, Amy was relieved her daughter wouldn’t have to visit the hospital anytime soonEvie had to wear glasses to see correctly, but now, the 7-year-old girl doesn’t need to wear glasses.
She now has normal eyesight and does not need her glasses to look around her. Amy described how she discovered it: «She was reading faster than I was.» She was reading letters off the board that were little more than dots to me.» Evie’s amazing recovery shocked the physicians. They were surprised to learn that the blind girl had regained whole vision. They did request, however, that Amy get Evie’s eyes tested twice a year. For many years, Evie fought her sickness valiantly.
Despite numerous operations, she never gave up. When the physicians asked her to get her head shaved before the final surgery, she went to the hairdresser, thinking she was Rapunzel. «In the hairdressers, they told her she’d been brave, and she said that just like Eugene cuts Rapunzel’s hair off to save her in Tangled, the doctors cut my hair off to save me,» she claimed. Amy called her daughter «phenomenal» for dealing with her pain as a child.
Meanwhile, Amy’s friends arranged a fundraiser for Evie following a tough time for her and her family. They hoped Evie would never have to visit the hospital for the same reasons again. Share this article with your friends and family to tell them about Evie’s amazing journey and Amy’s never-say-die attitude. Another story may be read here about a mother who observed her daughter had stopped recognizing her after falling off a chair. The physicians refused to treat her when she went to the hospital with her child.