An Indian teenager who has been crying blood since he was just 10-years-old has been nicknamed the ‘stigmata boy’.
A mysterious medical condition means that Akhilesh Raghuvanshi, now 13, bleeds from his ears, eyes, mouth, legs and his hairline up to ten times a day.
Akhilesh’s painful condition, which sees blood pouring from his body even though he has not been cut or scratched, leaves him with extreme exhaustion and crippling migraines.
His parents initially thought the boy was suffering from dehydration when he began to bleed from his nose three years ago – but they soon realised it was something more serious.
Doctors are stumped as to why blood continues to pour from Akhilesh’s body, although they think he may have an ultra-rare condition similar to haemolacria – where sufferers cry half blood tears.
Only a handful of people around the globe are believed to suffer from stigmata – a colloquial name given to afflictions that mimic those Jesus Christ is believed to have suffered during the Crucifixion.
The bizarre phenomenon inspired hit film Stigmata, starring Patricia Arquette as an atheist hairdresser from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is afflicted with the condition.
Akhilesh, from Ashoknagar in Madhya Pradesh, has been studied by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, but they have been unable to give him an official diagnosis.
And the schoolboy is desperate to find a cure.
He said: ‘I bleed from my eyes, my hands, my head – from everywhere.
‘I bleed from my ears, nose and eyes as well. When I bleed from ears It feels warm.
‘It may happen once or may be 10 times in a day. Sometimes, the bleeding will stop and won’t happen for months.
‘But in the past 15 days I have bled almost everyday.
‘It doesn’t hurt when the bleeding starts but it makes me tired and sometimes I have headaches.’
After doctors in India were left baffled, his dad, Arun, a farmer, appealed for medics around the world to help treat Akhilesh’s condition.
He said: ‘I have seen the best of the best doctors in India.
‘None of them seem to understand what this disease is and how it can be cured.
‘So far my son was bleeding from his eyes, nose, hairline, neck and legs.
‘But now the things are getting bad to worse as he has started passing blood through while urinating.
‘I fear for my child’s life now.
‘The medical science must have an answer to it.
‘I appeal to the doctors of the world, please intervene and help save my son.’
He added: ‘I hope my son’s condition offers the medical fraternity an opportunity to investigate the case once again and come up with some solution to the problem.
‘I appeal to international medical fraternity to come forward to help save my child and rid us of the endless pain and agony.’