A woman who had her eye removed as a teenager has gone viral for her hilarious skits – proving school bullies who called her names wrong. Sarah Harris, 36, a retail manager from Manchester, suffers from neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumours to form on the nerve tissue, which she was diagnosed with from birth.
After she was born, medics also discovered that she had an infantile optic glaucoma, a rare birth defect which prevents fluid from draining, causing pressure behind her eyes. Growing up, she would often receive stares from other kids in her class and recalls people avoiding her during playtime, where she found it hard to fit in as she felt “different.”
At five, she visited a specialist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, who discovered that her condition had completely eroded her eye socket and that her brain was pressing up against the eye. Years later, at 16, after years of constant pain with no end in sight, she made the life-changing decision to have her eye removed.
READ MORE:
Sarah said: “It wasn’t really a hard decision to make, as I was in constant pain and I was getting [regular] infections - if I left it, it would have gotten worse. I was slightly concerned, as the operation hadn’t been done before to this extent, as they needed to fix the issues related to me not having an eye socket.
“If I had left it, though, the tumour could have spread into my brain and caused a lot more damage, as well as me going completely blind. I had to wear a pressure bandage in my newly formed eye socket to keep it set in place, then I had another surgery to implant four abutments into my eye. This was dangerous, as they had to drill into the remaining bone structure which kept cracking as it was so thin.
“After six months, I had my prosthetic eye made which helped me to fit [into society] as I wasn’t being stared at as much. It gave me confidence to apply for my first job and [with others]."
Sarah’s condition was likely passed down by her mum, Julia, 65, who also suffers from neurofibromatosis and had to undergo spinal fusion surgery due to her spine “crumbling." Other side effects include learning difficulties, epilepsy, scoliosis, an enlarged head and a higher risk of cancer as some of the tumours can grow to be cancerous.
Since being diagnosed, she’s had 30 surgeries to date and also suffers from a phobia of food as a result of needing to be starved before each operation. The 36-year-old recalls how the condition affected her development, with her only fitting into clothes for a two-year-old by the time she was five.
She said: “I was small for my age and was wearing clothes for a two-year-old. I also had speech therapy as part of my bottom jaw didn’t form properly and I also had a slight delay with my reading and writing.
“I was called a lot of names almost every day, such as ‘pop eye’ or ‘one-eyed jack’ which made me feel upset and annoyed. I had one good friend in primary school, however, who I’m still good friends with to this day.
“I learned to ignore [the comments] as I grew up and eventually started to laugh with them or say ‘thanks for noticing’ which they didn’t like very much. It made me realise that some people don’t think before they speak - but I feel like it made me a stronger person in the long run.”
Over the years, she’s received support from all walks of life - including her colleagues, manager and even new-found friends. She often makes jokes and plays pranks using her prosthetic eye, such as putting her “eye” next to someone’s drink after they asked her to keep an eye on it.
In a bid to raise awareness, and for a laugh, she decided to upload her story to TikTok, where she creates “skits” using her prosthetic eye. In one clip, which has received 15 million views and over 967,000 likes, she whistles to her “eye” which continues to run away from her in a Charlie Chaplin-esque manner.
Users took to the comments to share their admiration for her quick wit and bravery, with others sharing their own experiences with the condition. “I lost my eye to a tumour when I was 16 due to a medical condition…it also destroyed my eye socket,” one viewer commented.
Another person added: “Okay but you’re legit beautiful.” [sic] “THIS is body positivity,” someone else wrote.
One person commented: “It’s the eye roll for me,” followed by a laughing emoji. “What u take out ur eye on how u do that,” another person added, to which Sarah replied: “I lost my real one due to a tumour this is the replacement.” [sic]
Sarah added: “I was surprised as I didn’t think I would get this much response. A lot of people became interested and started asking me questions about me, my eye, how I lost it, and so on.
“I do [TikTok] now to raise awareness, while still having fun doing it. I’ve currently got [a tumour] growing in my neck and cheek which is inoperable due to the complexity of how it’s wrapped around my facial nerves and blood vessels. I’m worried about getting osteoporosis [in the future] as I’m an active person and it’s one of the many things that make me happy.
“I’ve previously had a hysterectomy too, as I had a large fibroid tumour in my uterus which grew to the size of a 22-week foetus. This upset me at first, as I don’t have any children of my own. However, I soon realised that I’ve got to put my health first and I’m grateful for my parents who push me to do things on my own.
“Neurofibromatosis can affect people in so many different ways and while there is currently no known cure, I hope to play a role in finding this with my platform.”
READ NEXT:
