In a cautionary tale that reminds you never to go anywhere unfamiliar ever, a British woman back from a trip to Peru was told her assumed ear infection was actually maggots digging through her ear canal and devouring her flesh like yesterday’s hamburger.
Maggoty Madame Rochelle Harris described her reaction upon discovering she was playing host for some unwelcome guests. “I was very scared. Were they in my brain?” Probably, since apparently every horrifying thing that can happen, will.
In a resourceful use of household products, the doctors first tried flushing the maggots out using olive oil, then finally resorted to surgery, discovering a “writhing mass of maggots” inside her ear. Eight of the bugs were eventually removed from the unfortunate lady’s skull.
Says Harris,
“It was the longest few hours that I have ever had to wait… I could still feel them and hear them and knowing what those scratching sounds were, and knowing what that wriggling feeling was, that just made it all the worse.”
Bleeeeeech.
However, she says the entire ordeal actually made her more maggot friendly. “I’m not so squeamish around those kinds of bugs now. How can I be? They’ve been in my ear!”
Obviously Harris’ gory problem is enough to prompt even the least paranoid person make an urgent appointment with their doctor, but thankfully there are some tell-tale signs which Harris missed that can alert you to the presence of brain-invaders.
During her trip Harris reported that the side of her head closest to the maggot ear constantly ached, her ear often seeped liquid, and once she even removed a fly from it.
So take note: if you have recently dislodged a fly from your ear, I am very very sorry, but you likely are playing hosts to maggots right now. We’ll have to send some spiders in to devour them.
(via Death and Taxes, images via rjp)
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