Mum’s hell with maggots living in her scalp

Katrina Druitt, of Farcet, first noticed the creatures in 2016 but a misdiagnosis from her doctor - despite her protests - meant she did not get treatment until last year.

Now Katrina (42) has spoken of her ‘two years from hell,’ after finishing treatment to clear the problem – also known as Myiasis – has finished.

Katrina said: “It started at the end of 2016, with a bump on my head – I thought it was an insect bite. But it kept on getting bigger and bigger. One evening I squeezed it, and something came away from my head. To my horror, when I looked, it was moving. I almost passed out.”

Katrina went to her doctor about what had happened. She said: “He said it was impossible, and could not happen.

“Eventually I lost a piece of my scalp. At night you could see my scalp undulating. It was painful. every now and again I would get stabbing pains.

“The wound would get bigger and bigger and a number of times I pulled out the maggots, and saved them so the doctor could see.”

Katrina said she was referred to a psychologist, and diagnosed with psychosis - with her 16-year-old son Anthony - who was at the time being moved away from her to live with an aunt.

But it was only thanks to her son that the condition was eventually diagnosed. She said: “Anthony got a video of one of the creatures coming out of the wound.

“I was then referred to a dermatologist, and from there a specialist at Bury St Edmunds.

“The treatment finished at the end of last year. The specialist said she had never seen anything like it.

“The treatment only took about two weeks in the end , which makes it more frustrating that it took so long to diagnose. They still don’t know what caused it.

“I feel I have my life back. It was horrible when no-one believed me, when I was going through hell.”

While the condition is rare, one of the main caused of Myiasis is larvae infecting an open wound.