UPDATE: |Girl, 16, with sickness ‘bug’ ended up with part of her skull in her stomach News

Schoolgirl Ellie Morris-Davies had been suffering from persistent headaches and nausea but didn’t know what was causing it until she was rushed to hospital

A schoolgirl who believed she was suffering from a common sickness bug, later feared she would never return home. Ellie Morris-Davies, 16, began experiencing persistent headaches and nausea, along with light sensitivity, during the May half-term last year.

Initially, she thought it was just a typical sickness bug, but by the end of the week, she was vomiting up to 16 times a day. After undergoing blood tests and an MRI scan, it was revealed that Ellie had a brain bleed caused by a cavernoma – a cluster of abnormal blood vessels that often do not present symptoms.

When symptoms do occur, they can include seizures, headaches, and other neurological issues such as dizziness and slurred speech. The NHS states that about one in every 600 people in the UK live with a symptomless cavernoma.

Each year, approximately one person in every 400,000 is diagnosed with a symptomatic cavernoma, typically developing between the ages of 20 and 40. The cause of the condition remains unknown, although it can sometimes be hereditary.

Ellie’s mother, Joanne Morris-Davies, 48, said her daughter is now tirelessly working towards returning to her love of dancing and performing on stage. She admitted: “I’d never heard of cavernomas. When we went to A&E I was just hoping it was just a bad migraine.”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

“We didn’t know how long it had been there, they said they thought it had been there a while.”

Ellie, from Crewe, was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool where she underwent surgery.

However, the risk of further bleeds remained high, so surgeons performed a decompressive craniectomy. This involves removing part of the skull to relieve pressure and storing it in the patient’s stomach to keep it sterile before it can be reinserted.

Asked if the procedure is usually performed on children Ellie’s age, Benedetta Pettorini, consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Alder Hey, said: “Luckily not, but in some selected cases that’s the only way to save their lives.”

The hospital’s specialist medics have performed fewer than 20 neurosurgeries for cavernomas in the last four years. Ms Pettorini added: “The operation in itself, which is taking the skull away, is not risky per se. What is risky is why you do it. So you usually end up doing it in very critical patients, like Ellie was at that time.”

Despite the life-saving procedure, Ellie deteriorated further and was rushed to intensive care. Overall, she had nine surgeries in the space of 13 weeks.

She also contracted rare and dangerous infections.

Miss Pettorini said the number of operations was due to the cavernoma, which was causing more swelling in the brain. Afterwards, Joanne said Ellie could not move the left side of her body, could not talk, and communicated with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

She continued: “In that time she’s had physio every day. But it was after seven weeks of not walking she had a bit of movement in her leg. Her fingers have been the last to get going, but she’s relearned to walk, talk and swallow.

“She’s quite a headstrong, driven kid. We’re just now working on physio relentlessly.”

The treatment involves one-on-one sessions with Ellie’s dance teacher.

The teenager has been performing and dancing since she was three, appearing in pantomimes and in shows on the West End.

Joanne added: “That’s her goal, to get back. Even after the first surgery when she wasn’t talking, Taylor Swift was playing in Liverpool and the nurses were playing her songs on her iPad. She was trying to do a little jiggle in the bed. I knew she was still Ellie.”

Ellie recently returned to the stage to sing in a show with her dance class, which her mum described as an “emotional night”.

Ellie added: “At one point, I thought I would never go home. But the staff on ward 4A really looked after me and kept my spirits up. There are still things I can’t do, and it’s frustrating, but I know I’ll get there. I can’t wait to be back on stage, singing and dancing.”

Joanne said that while Ellie has lost a lot of confidence, she will not let this experience beat her, adding: “She’s the most determined person.”

She also said the family are “eternally grateful to the neurosurgery team who saved her life”.

Ellie’s friends are rallying to raise funds for her to join an intensive therapy programme in London this summer. Miss Pettorini said: “I think having a family that understands the challenges, understands what you’re doing, understands the gravity, makes things much, much better for all involved.

“They have supported her brilliantly during her recovery. She’s the coolest girl. Literally, she’s full of life. It was a privilege to look after her.”

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