Meet Schoolgirl Who Had Extremely Rare Ear Condition That Made Her Cry When It Rained

Little Evie Shuttlewood, 9, had an extremely rare ear condition that made her so sensitive to noise that she cried at the slightest sudden sound. Her ears became so sensitive they reacted to changes in air pressure and she would suddenly start crying an hour before it started raining.

Everyday noises like a kettle boiling, babies crying, a 999 siren or even a loud car driving past left her curled up in agony.

Teachers at her school Hartlip Primary in Kent even had to remove clocks and escort her to the toilet to make sure no-one was flushing at the time. They also stopped sounding the school bell and pupils were asked to go into school before Evie so it was quiet when she arrived.

Evie was diagnosed with geniculate neuralgia last May after an apparently ordinary cold which she shared with her two sisters.

It causes severe earache and hyperacusis, hypersensitivity to sound and the youngster likened it to ‘red hot knives’ stabbing inside her ear.

Experts at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital told her parents Nathan and Elizabeth nothing could be done for her and she could only wait until it went. But Elizabeth decided to homeschool Evie and had secondary double glazing installed at the home in Sittingbourne, Kent.

After nearly a year of suffering, Evie has made a sudden recovery and been pain free for more than a month.

Her mum, Elizabeth, 42, said: “It just started with the normal sore throat and headache, which both my other daughters had. But Evie’s didn’t go away. She would wake up two three times in the night from just tiny noises. All I could do was just cuddle her until she went back to sleep. It was so hard as parents to see her in so much pain knowing there was nothing we could do for her. She would just cry in pain and then we realised it was always about an hour before it started to rain or when the weather changed, it was a change in the air pressure. Really cold days or really hot days were really bad for her. When we tried to soothe her air with cold items, it would feel like it was burning her. Nothing worked.”

Evie suddenly announced on April Fool’s Day that the pain had gone – and she wasn’t joking.

Elizabeth added: “One morning, funnily enough on April Fools Day she came running in and she said ‘I’m better mummy’. I thought she was joking, I couldn’t believe it. It kind of flickered on about four days later, but then went again. We’re over the moon, we’re finally getting out little girl back. And she has got her freedom back, even simple things like playing in the back garden and being able to going everywhere in the house, which she couldn’t do before. There are instances where it has come back, but we’re just hoping that it doesn’t.”

Source: Mirror