Horror discovery as girl, 9, has huge hairball 'eating through her stomach'

Sophia Goss began been pulling out her hair and chewing on it when she was 18 months. Now 9 she needed a four-hour operation to remove the hairball from her stomach

A young girl with Rapunzel Syndrome had to undergo a four-hour operation to remove a huge hairball "eating through her stomach".

Sophia Goss began pulling out her hair and chewing on it when she was 18 months old as a "soothing" technique to help her fall asleep. Mum Megan Sayce, 32, thought she had got Sophia to break her habit in just eight weeks by putting olive oil on the youngster's hair.

But, Sophia, now nine, was rushed to hospital by Megan and dad Lewis Goss from Lenwade, Norfolk, after passing out from the pain in her stomach. She spent four hours in surgery and a further 10 days in hospital after surgeons removed a hairball 'the size of her belly' that had created a hole in her stomach.

Rapunzel syndrome is an extremely rare medical condition where hair a person has eaten becomes tangled and trapped in their stomach. Mum Megan said: "It was scary. The hairball filled her whole stomach and had worn away the lining which meant her stomach contents were leaking into her body.

"She wasn't allowed to eat or drink for seven days and was in the high dependency unit for seven of the 10 days she was in hospital. Six weeks before she had the operation, we had taken her to the doctors with stomach pain and they said it was her diet without examining her too much. They didn't seem to have much awareness of what it could have been."

Megan explained that Sophia began pulling out her hair when she was just a tot and had pulled out half her hair before they could teach her to stop. The shift manager at McDonald's said: "She would do it as she was falling asleep.

"She'd pull tufts out all the time - the GP and health visitor didn't really have any advice. I Googled it and managed to get her to stop in eight weeks. I put olive oil in her hair and got her some gloves for when she slept so she couldn't pull it.

"Then when she was four years old she was very ill and threw up a hairball. We took her to a doctor but they didn't really know what could stop it. She wasn't doing pulling her hair as far as we could see. She eventually got better, wasn't eating her hair and it was growing out nicely, so we didn't think much of it."

On December 12, 2023, Sophia woke up crying and saying she felt like she was 'going to die.' Megan said: "I woke up at 4am and heard her crying - she said she felt like she was going to die, was throwing up and passed out.

"I've never heard her scream in such pain so we called the GP when they opened but they couldn't fit her in until 5pm. We spoke to 111 and they said they'd send an ambulance. I went to work and when I came home at 10am because she was still so ill, they called back and said they wouldn't be sending one.

"They told us not to take her to hospital as it would be too busy but we rushed her to the hospital ourselves. I was worried it was appendicitis. It turned out she had a hairball the size of her belly, which was causing ulcers and creating a hole in her stomach."

After the gastric perforation surgery, Sophie spent time at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and is now recovered. Megan said: "It scared her. She used to chew on the ends but because there was no bald patch, we didn't think that was what it was. She doesn't do it anymore."

Megan and Sophia want to raise awareness of Rapunzel syndrome as mum said opportunities to identify the problem were likely missed. She said: "There isn't much help or knowledge about Rapunzel syndrome because the act, which causes it, seems quite harmless.

"But we got lucky with Sophia - if we hadn't taken her to hospital she would've got sepsis and then who knows what might have happened. Just chewing or sucking on the hair can cause the problems. Parents should keep an eye on your children, go to the doctors and push them for answers."

Rapunzel syndrome is an extremely rare medical condition where airs a person has eaten becomes tangled and trapped in their stomach. This causes a hairball to form, which has a long tail extending into the small intestine. The main symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, bloated stomach, reduced appetite, weight loss and constipation or diarrhoea.