This little girl was temporarily paralyzed by a tick bite

Amanda and Lantz Lewis were getting their three-year-old daughter, Evelyn, ready for bed. And then they noticed something strange.

She didn’t want to stand up after her bath to put on her pyjamas and needed help getting into bed. Amanda stayed in bed with her all night — and awoke to find Evelyn unable to walk or crawl and barely able to use her arms.

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The Lewises recorded a video of Evelyn struggling to stand up in the hope that it would help diagnose her problem and immediately took her to the ER after as her symptoms got worse.

There, a doctor immediately recognized Evelyn’s symptoms and was certain it was tick paralysis, an illness caused by toxins released by a tick when it’s feeding. It usually affects dogs and children and if left untreated, it could be fatal.

They checked her head thoroughly and, sure enough, found a tick hidden under her hair.

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“I feel awful for not having seen the little bugger sooner but I never would have even thought to
look for a tick,” wrote Amanda in a Facebook post. “It’s crazy that a little bug can do this!”

Evelyn has since made a steady recovery after the tick was removed and the Lewises are sharing their video to raise awareness and encourage parents to check their kids or pets for ticks if they notice similar behaviour.

Check out the video above to see more and let us know what you think by tweeting us @YahooStyleCA.