A 12-year-old girl developed “20 little bumps” on her head during her family’s trip out of the country, which were later diagnosed as flesh-eating parasites.
In a new season of Animal Planet’s Monsters Inside Me, doctors and family members recount Brianna Sheirik’s chilling diagnosis, graphic footage of her condition and treatment.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The family was volunteering at a local orphanage in Colombia when her mother, Joy, noticed the red bumps on the girl’s scalp.
Up Next: 11-Year-Old Boy Dies From Bacterial Infection While at Camp
“I thought Brianna had some poisoning earlier, but in my gut, I felt like there was something more going on,” she said as Inside Edition reports. “I wanted to get home to the United States.”
They cut the trip short but on the flight home, Joy said the bumps “burst and were oozing clear liquid and blood.” When they returned to the States, they sought out a dermatologist to look at the bizarre, worsening lesions.
The doctor who saw Brianna said she could hear the parasites chewing when she leaned in about two inches from the girl’s scalp.
“I saw these little shallow, almost like erosions. But when I looked at them closely, all of a sudden, they moved up and down,” the doctor recalled.
Doctors eventually found that Brianna had New World screwworms chewing away at her scalp.
Though this story is difficult to unpack and may leave your head itching, it’s a true encounter documented on Monsters Inside Me.
More: Man Contracts Flesh-Eating Bacteria While Swimming
“We do not have to try to come up with some sort of disgusting supernatural thing,” Dr. Dan Riskin told Inside Edition. “Nature is worse than anything you can make up.”
He says that while these bizarre cases are rare, they sometimes happen to everyday people like young Brianna, making them even more chilling.
The show will recount Brianna’s story during its new season, premiering Sunday, Oct. 15 at 9 p.m. EST.
