7-Year-Old Blind Girl Baffles Doctors Because She's Cured of Her Lifelong Disability

Evie-Mae Geurts blind girl lifelong disability Hydrocephalus Amy Geurts Bristol Children's Hospital Makaton a shunt inside her brain medical interventions surgical placement for the shunt shunt surgery

By Lili Scott , Parent Herald May 25, 11:55 am

Photo: (Photo : JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)

Doctors are stunned and baffled by the complete turnaround of the health of Evie-Mae Geurts, a 7-year-old child who was diagnosed as a blind baby with a serious lifelong condition called hydrocephalus.

Mom Amy Geurts wanted answers to her baby's condition when she developed fluid in her brain after initially suffering from a bad cold and red eyes in 2014. According to Good News Network, doctors warned the family that this fluid will keep putting pressure on her eyes so she will lose her sense of sight. Her condition will also lead to a loss of ability to walk or to speak because hydrocephalus will affect her muscle tone and strength.

However, once Evie-Mae became a toddler, she slowly regained her eyesight despite what the doctors said. Now at 7 years old, the child who was formerly blind is walking, talking, and even doing extremely well in her class.

Evie-Mae's Medical Inventions

During one of her operations, doctors fitted Evie-Mae, then 2 years old, with a shunt inside her brain to help her body drain the fluid build-up into her bladder. When the family returned home after that hospitalization at Bristol Children's Hospital in 2015, Evie-Marie started to have better vision. This told the doctors that the shunt was working as it should be.

However, Evie-Mae went over a year without regular medical interventions for her hydrocephalus. Doctors told Amy that it was highly unusual for the child to get better when her condition was left untreated. But Evie-Mae did start to walk and speak as a toddler, alongside learning Makaton, a unique language program using action signs.

In April 2019, the child complained of headaches yet again. This time, the doctors found out that her shunt was blocked and needed replacement.

Two years after that replacement procedure, Evie-Mae's frequent headaches resurfaced for another time and Amy feared for the worst. However, much to her surprise, as well as the doctor's shock, the headaches were due to the shunts that were encroaching on Evie-Mae's normal brain function. Apparently, she didn't need the device anymore because she was cured of the hydrocephalus, according to Daily Mail.

"[The doctor] said he'd never seen it before and certainly didn't expect to see it in her," Amy revealed.

The young girl had another surgery to completely remove the shunt. While she's still getting eye tests regularly, her doctors have cleared her for having perfect vision.

No Cure for Hydrocephalus

According to the Hydrocephalus Association, there is no cure for this condition. However, patients may manage their condition with a surgical placement for the shunt, which was the course of treatment for Evie-Mae.

A child with hydrocephalus, who has had early intervention and surgical treatments to drain the fluid, is expected to have a longer lifespan despite her condition. In a typical patient, a shunt surgery may be conducted at least five times during their lifespan yet there are kids who may just have a single operation.

Recent medical developments entail absorbing the fluid so that the shunt will not have to be replaced. However, in all cases, children with hydrocephalus require monitoring and follow-up appointments to check their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels to prevent any complications.