Shocking! 14-year-old Olivia Farnsworth can’t feel pain, hunger or danger due to a rare condition called hormone 6 deletion. As per doctors, she is the only individual known to be incapable of sensing all three stimuli.
A young girl, called Olivia Farnsworth, in the United Kingdom, has been nicknamed “Bionic”. It happened after she was hit and dragged by a car but calmly got up and walked off unharmed. The accident happened in 2016 when she was only 7 years old. Even the doctors were blown out when they heard about the incident. The reason the 14-year-old survived the accident is due to a rare condition called hormone 6 deletion which makes her unable to perceive danger and experience feelings of pain, hunger or thirst. It is reported that she is the only individual known to be incapable of sensing all three stimuli.
According to the USA-based National Organisation For Rare Disorders, chromosome 6 deletion is an abnormality that arises when genetic material is absent on the short arm (p) of chromosome 6. “Features that often occur in people with chromosome 6p deletion include developmental delay, intellectual disability, behavioural problems, and distinctive facial features.”
HOW SHE BECAME A BIONIC TEEN?
Olivia Farnsworth’s mother, Niki Trepak, spoke to Dailymail about the accident and what all the family witnessed, “She got run over and dragged down the street by a car and she didn’t complain. She was dragged about ten car lengths down the road. It was horrendous. I don’t think it’s something I will ever get over. I was screaming and all my other children were screaming as she ran out.”
She revealed how they all got confused when Oliva got back up without feeling any minor pain, “Olivia was just like, ‘What’s going on?’… She had a tyre mark on her chest. But her only injuries were she had no skin on her toe or her hip. The doctors think what saved her from injury was she didn’t tense up.” Trepak revealed from that time they realised that their daughter was far from a normal human being.
According to Trepak, her daughter began to exhibit symptoms when she was just a few months old, “When she was nine months old she started rejecting my milk… She’s almost become conditioned to eat, she eats at school because everyone else does but she doesn’t need it. She never gets hungry. At home, she will go through phases of eating the same thing for months and months and then go off it.”
She also once fell badly and ripped her lip off and didn’t say anything. She had to have major plastic surgery to correct it,” Trepak said. She also mentioned that due to this illness, Olivia’s hair didn’t grow properly until she reached the age of 4
IS THERE ANY TREATMENT FOR THE CONDITION?
Olivia’s family are currently receiving support from Unique, a support organisation for chromosome disorders. According to research biologist Dr Searle, there is no treatment for the chromosome disorder. Trepak told Dailymail “But what we can do is alleviate the symptoms. We try to find matches and provide information for families, which can be great for friendship and local support.” Currently, Olivia is undergoing counselling sessions and is receiving the best support and guidance possible.