A 17-year-old girl is suffering from a horrific mystery condition which causes thick, stinging blood to seep from her eyes and ears.
Marnie Harvey's condition has baffled doctors for three years - and has left her virtually housebound.
Now, desperate for a diagnosis, she is sharing her story in the hope of getting her life back.
Miss Harvey's ordeal began in 2013 when she woke up with blood spatters on her pillow.
Her terrified mother Catherine, 43, took her to the GP - but despite several tests, no cause could be found.
For the next two years she was sent for more investigations and told to change her diet, eliminating food groups from sugar to dairy, in a bid to find out what was causing her symptoms.
But her condition continued to get worse - and in July last year she was horrified to wake with 'gloopy' blood seeping from her eyes.
She now bleeds from her eyes, nose, ears and fingernails up to five times a day - but doctors from every area of medicine are baffled as to why.
Bleeding: Marnie Harvey, 17, bleeds from her eyes up to five times a day and doctors have no idea why
Stinging: When the blood flows from her orificies, Miss Harvey can’t eat or open her eyes as the blood stings
In the last few weeks, she has also started to bleed from her tongue and scalp.
Thought to be the only person in the UK - and possibly the world - with this unique set of symptoms - doctors have dubbed the frightened teenager ‘The Mystery Girl.’
Recalling the moment she woke up with her eyes bleeding, Miss Harvey said: ‘Red, gloopy tears were dripping out of my right eye.
'I had blood all over my face and a shooting pain behind my eyes.
'I felt my way downstairs and there, my parents, brother and sister all screamed when they saw me. My brother called an ambulance.’
Her ordeal began in 2013 when she became uncharacteristically unwell.
She said: ‘I never used to get ill and have always been a healthy girl. I loved sports at school and was on track to get good GCSE’s.
'Then in February 2013 I was at home when I started coughing up blood.’
Her doctor sent her for a chest scan, which came back clear, but the worrying symptom continued for two years.
She frequently attended North Staffordshire Hospital and had further blood scans, which again, came back showing nothing amiss.
Then, she developed a pain in her side but tests couldn't reveal why.
She also began suffering migraines and sickness so bad she missed weeks of school.
After her attendance dropped below 50 per cent her parents were threatened with legal action.
‘We had the medical letters but there were times I didn’t go to school for weeks because the migraines were so bad all I could do was lie in my room in the dark, unable to move,' she said.
Miss Harvey managed to take her GCSE exams but didn’t get the results she was hoping for.
Healthy to ill: In 2013 Marnie woke up coughing up blood, and began suffering migraines with sickness - but tests couldn't reveal why. In June last year, she began bleeding from her eyes (right)
Believing the symptoms might be related to her diet, doctors advised her to try eliminating food groups.
Over the course of two years she cut out dairy, chocolate, gluten, wheat and sugar - but nothing worked.
She said: ‘I never really ate that much cheese or chocolate anyway, but I gave up everything that could be causing my ill-health. We could never find a correlation between what I ate and how I felt.’
By June 2015 the headaches and sickness had worsened.
However, what was to happen next was truly horrifying.
‘My eyes started bleeding. Then my nose and ears. It was a dark red, gloopy blood. It didn’t gush out, it seeped.’
Miss Harvey had gone to bed with a headache. When she woke up her vision was blurry and as she stumbled towards the mirror, she was in for a shock.
She had blood over her face and a sharp pain behind her eyes.
When she went downstairs her terrified family called an ambulance immediately and she was taken to hospital.
Yet, once again, doctors couldn't find anything wrong and she was sent home, only for the bleeding to return.
Mrs Harvey took her daughter back to hospital where they were referred to the ear, nose and throat (ENT) and eye department.
Mrs Harvey said: ‘Marnie was tested for a tumour behind her eyes. They looked in her ears and up her nose and put a camera down her throat.
'Everything came back clear. As far as results were concerned, she was the picture of health.’
Desperate: Miss Harvey is now sharing her story in the hope that someone will be able to help diagnose her
Frustrated: Miss Harvery's mother Catherine says her daughter has been seen by a range of specialists and had multiple tests and yet the only anomaly doctors can find is that she has a low immune system
The bleeding continued as often as five times a day and Miss Harvey said she felt like her life was on hold.
When it flows, she can’t eat or open her eyes as the blood stings.
‘I had enrolled on a hairdressing course but I couldn’t go and bleed everywhere,' she said.
'I used to go out with my friends every day but I became too scared to leave the house.
'It was alright in the summer because I could hide my bleeding eyes behind sunglasses but I can’t do that now so I stay at home.
'I never know when it’s going to happen and I don’t like scaring people.’
She had secured a part time job in a clothing shop, but started bleeding from her eyes on the morning of her first day.
She said: ‘Calling up and explaining I couldn’t come to work because my eyes were bleeding, I think they thought I was making it up,' she said. 'I haven’t been able to go to in since.’
Miss Harvey’s dream to become a nurse, to go on holiday and find a boyfriend are all shelved while she’s passed from specialist to specialist.
Every day, purple and blue bruises appear all over her body, which hurt to touch and often swell up.
Housebound: She now bleeds out of her eyes, nose, ears (right) and fingernails. In the last few weeks, she’s started to bleed from her tongue and scalp too, leaving her too scared to leave the house (left)
But despite the fact her symptoms seem to worsen when she's on her period - tests show there is nothing wrong with her reproductive organs or fertility.
She said: ‘They scanned my womb and ovaries and it all came back clear. I saw a gynecologist in January but it felt futile as I’ve already had my reproductive organs checked and cleared.’
Mrs Harvey feels frustrated that doctors are unable to diagnose her daughter's condition.
She said: ‘We’ve had it confirmed that Marnie does not have a brain tumour or brain AVM - an abnormal collection of blood vessels.
'Her blood tests come back clear and healthy, her iron levels are strong.
‘She has no tumours, no blood diseases and no blood clotting disorders. Her blood clots well.'
An ultrasound scan showed her liver, kidneys, womb and ovaries and confirmed all organs are functioning perfectly, she added, and her eyes, ears, nose and throat are all fine.
She has also had MRI scans, CT scans and multiple blood tests, but the only problem anomaly doctors can identify is that she has a low immune system.
'Life on hold': Miss Harvey couldn't start her job in a clothes shop because she would bleed on the items
'That’s all we’ve got to go on for now,' Mrs Harvey said.
After years of leaving doctors bewildered, Miss Harvey has become accustomed to being the subject of medical fascination.
She said: ‘Specialists bring their students to have a look at me. One student suggested stigmata - the religious belief it’s the representation of the blood of Jesus.
'We’re not a religious family. We just want answers.’
Mrs Harvey is now appealing for anyone who might know what could be wrong with her daughter.
Through their own research, the family have found two other similar cases in the world.
Six years ago in Tennessee, USA, Calvino Inman, who was 15 at the time, was reported to mysteriously ‘cry blood’ up to three times a day.
An ophthalmologist suggested Calvino could have haemolacria - bloody tears.
Yet Mrs Harvey said this doesn't fit with her daughter's symptoms, as she also bleeds from other orifices and comes up covered in bruises.
The case of Twinkle Dwivedi, of Lucknow, India, was first reported in 2008.
Then 13, Twinkle was suffering from a blood disorder that caused a loss of blood through her skin without being cut or scratch. She also bled from her eyes.
‘A doctor thought Twinkle might have a coagulation disorder,' Mrs Harvey said. 'Maybe her platelets didn’t stick to the blood vessels.
'But from what we can tell of Twinkle’s case, an official diagnosis has still not been made.’
Again, the case doesn't help her own daughter's plight as Miss Harvey’s blood coagulation has been tested and cleared.
The family can’t find any other examples of her symptoms happening to anyone in the world - and she is desperate for help.
‘Some friends still come visit me but there are some I haven’t seen in months,' Miss Harvey said.
'I had to leave Facebook because people were starting rumours that I had blood cancer or the Ebola virus.
'Last time I was in hospital kids in the waiting room were taking pictures of me with their phones.’
Mystery: Doctors have dubbed Miss Harvey ‘the mystery girl’ as her condition is undiagnosed. She said: 'They say they just don’t know what’s causing it. I’m their mystery girl’
Mrs Harvey hopes that sharing her daughter's story might bring hope of a diagnosis.
She said: ‘Our doctor tells us new disorders and diseases are presented all the time and they don’t always find a cause or a cure.
'Marnie is a beautiful girl. When she’s not bleeding, she doesn’t look poorly. I want to find a way to help so she can live her life.’
Recently, Miss Harvey’s gynecologist gave her injection to stop activity in her womb in case hormonal changes linked to menstruation were causing her condition.
But she continued to bleed, so they can only surmise that the womb is the cause.
Mrs Harvey said: ‘We can tick the womb off the list. Now it’s back to wondering if it’s coming from her liver, lungs or brain. We’re waiting for her next referral.’
For now, Miss Harvey's medical team have dubbed her ‘the mystery girl’.
‘It’s what they call me,' Miss Harvey said. 'They say they just don’t know what’s causing it. I’m their mystery girl.’
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