A woman has spoken of her terror at discovering that she harboured flesh-eating maggots inside her ear.

When Rochelle Harris, 27, from Derby, returned from the holiday of a lifetime in Peru, she thought little of the headaches that she had started to develop on the flight back to the UK.

But within hours she had developed excruciating shooting pains down one side of her face and had started to hear strange scratching sounds in her head. The next morning she woke to a pillow soaked with fluid from her ear.

Rochelle Harris has been on holiday in Peru with her boyfriend James (pictured) when she walked through a swarm of flies. On the flight back to the UK she developed head pains and started to hear unusual sounds inside her head

Rochelle’s ordeal features in a new Discovery Channel documentary, called ‘Bugs, Bites and Parasites’ that follows the work of specialists who are faced with patients exhibiting a variety of mysterious symptoms – more often than not from people who have travelled abroad.

The New World Army Screw Worm Fly (CGI pictured) laid eggs inside Rochelle’s ear where they hatched and feasted on her flesh. They eventually burrowed 12mm into Rochelle’s ear but luckily did not hit her facial nerve, which could have left her face paralysed

As doctors tried to get the maggots out of Rochelle’s ear, they retreated further into her head. Doctors described discovering a ‘writhing mass’ of the creatures deep inside her ear.Initially doctors weren’t concerned by her symptoms and presumed that they had developed because of a minor ear infection or an infected mosquito bite.

Rochelle said that as her ear was being examined, the ENT specialist went silent.

The doctor had found a small hole in the ear canal which needed further investigation but would not explain what the problem was.

After almost an hour of silent examination Rochelle, and her mother who had accompanied her, asked if they were any closer to a diagnosis.

The scan revealed that the maggots have burrowed 12mm into Rochelle’s head

She said: ‘My Mum asked her “Can you see what it is?” and the doctor said “If you don’t mind I’d prefer to speak to the registrar before I tell you anything”.

‘My Mum said “Please tell us” and that’s when the doctor said “You’ve got maggots in your ear”. I burst into tears instantly.’

Doctors tried to get the maggots out but the more medics delved into her ear, the more the larvae retreated into Rochelle’s head.

‘I was very scared – I wondered if they were in my brain. I thought to myself “This could be very, very serious.”‘

Doctors ordered an emergency brain scan to find out if any damage had been done by the maggots,  as well as to determine how many there were and where they were hiding.