Quote:
Little Tianna Lewis McHugh is the girl who cannot cry. She has a rare condition that means her tears could trigger a fatal fit.
Her parents Ceri Lewis and Andy McHugh live on tenterhooks every day, making sure their precious two-year-old doesn't cry.

'It's like walking on eggshells,' says Andy, explaining how they try to prevent her tears.

Tianna suffers frightening reflex anoxic seizures that make her skin turn white, her body stiffen and her breathing stop. Terrifyingly, her heart stops beating.

'We have to deal with her firmly but in a polite manner,' Andy adds. 'We have to avoid tantrums. Water shocks her out of having a seizure so when she starts to cry we've sometimes chucked a cup of water in her face or bundled her into the shower.

'The water makes her jump, it shocks her and makes her inhale. When we go out we always carry a juice cup full of water in case she falls over.'

Ceri, 23, says she was hysterical when she witnessed her daughter's first fit.

'I picked her up out of her high chair, put her on the floor and she cried for seconds - then she looked like she'd died,' she recalls.

'She went a deathly grey, her lips were blue and her eyes rolled back. She stopped breathing and looked dead because she stiffened up and arched her back. I thought she'd died and I was hysterical.'

Andy tried desperately to resuscitate his little girl. 'After five or six blows she took a massive breath and came around, crying her eyes out,' he says.


Terrified, Tianna's parents took her to hospital, but doctors there were unable to diagnose her condition. A fortnight later a second seizure, her worst, left Tianna fighting for life. Doctors told her distraught parents that if she didn't come round in 10 minutes she could die or be brain damaged. Amazingly she pulled through and recovered after a few days in hospital. It was then doctors realised she'd had a reflex anoxic seizure.
Tianna endured her last fit a few months ago and Andy and Ceri now hope she may grow out of the condition. Until then, it's a battle. 'When she has fits, it's horrendous,' 30-year-old Andy says.

'Tianna's hyperactive, talkative, bubbly and very active. She's very well developed for her age. She can do whatever she wants but for 18 months we've been cautious with her so she doesn't get hurt or shocked and cry. She's our little angel.'

TøbiasBlack Wrote:...thats one frighteningly disturbing condition...

ShiKage Wrote:(no pedophilia lolz).

[COLOR="Red"]Bulls[B]hit.

That would suck...she can still be sad, she just has to find other ways of dealing with it without crying. [/COLOR]

Omni Wrote:I can see how this would be a problem. Imagine a situation in which something falls on her head, something that is heavy enough to actually hurt her. Or what if she tripped and her knee bled? She has no choice but to cry, it is normal for a child of that age to do so if they are in pain. The fact that she has this . . . illness or whatever makes it difficult since she doesn't realize that she cannot cry, or else she dies. This sucks so much for the poor little girl, because kids her age are susceptible to being injured more.

kremechoko Wrote:Hate to be pessimistic and/or obvious but this girl is not gonna live long.

Quote:Reflex anoxic seizures probably occur in about 8 out of every 1000 preschool children. They are most common between the ages of six months and two years but they can also occur in teenagers and adults.

Although parents often say their child looks as if they have died during an attack, I have never heard of the condition causing death.

Often no treatment is required, but some studies have suggested that the drug atropine is effective in reducing the frequency of the attacks.

Thankfully, reflex anoxic seizures usually get less frequent and eventually stop during childhood. Occasionally the attacks persist into early adult life.

Beloved Wrote:Here's a case where it is life or death if she suffers a heartbreak. Good news is..



source: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/childrenshealth/203326.html

holyforest Wrote:Reading that made me happier.

butterfλi Wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome