THE MAN WHO FEELS FIRE WHEN TOUCHING ICE – AND VICE VERSA

When a young man picks up a cold soda can and feels searing heat instead, doctors are left baffled by a mysterious illness that’s turning his world of sensations completely upside down.

In the suburbs of North Melbourne, a young man named Aidan McManus lives with a medical mystery that has baffled doctors for five years. What began as a strange tingling in his feet during his final year of high school has evolved into a nightmarish condition that has literally turned his sensory world upside down.

The first symptoms appeared innocuously enough when 17-year-old Aidan mentioned to his mother Angela that his feet felt “tingly and numbish.” Most parents might dismiss this as growing pains or a temporary circulation issue. But for Aidan, this was just the beginning of a medical odyssey that would consume his young adult life.

Soon after the tingling began, Aidan’s feet started to swell. Doctors initially diagnosed him with fluid retention and prescribed medication, but the treatment proved ineffective. Walking became increasingly painful—Angela describes it as if her son was “walking on little tacks.” Despite attending only five weeks of his final school year due to his mysterious ailment, Aidan somehow managed to complete his high school certificate—a testament to his determination in the face of mounting physical challenges.

As medical professionals searched for answers, Aidan endured a gauntlet of tests. Blood work, nerve biopsies, lumbar punctures, genetic testing—the list grew longer while answers remained elusive. Specialists eventually diagnosed him with axonal peripheral neuropathy, a condition that disrupts how nerve cells transmit signals throughout the body. But the underlying cause? Still unknown.

Perhaps most disturbing is how Aidan’s condition has warped his sensory perception. The disorder has crept upward from his feet through his legs and into his hands, creating a bizarre reversal of temperature sensation. When he picks up something cold, like a can of Coke, his hands feel like they’re burning. When he touches something hot, it feels freezing cold. This dangerous perceptual inversion means simple daily tasks like cooking have become impossible without assistance.

“He can walk, but not very far,” Angela explains, noting that his balance and coordination have deteriorated as well. His neurologist has delivered the grim prognosis that Aidan’s condition is progressive and very unlikely to resolve—he may eventually require a wheelchair.

Adding to the family’s struggle, Aidan’s application for support through Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme was rejected last November, despite his neurologist’s strong endorsement stating that Aidan “has an incurable disability and will continue to worsen.” The NDIA claimed he hadn’t “examined all possible treatment options,” yet his neurologist explicitly stated in supporting documentation that “no treatment is available” beyond pain relief.

The rejection letter highlights the bureaucratic nightmare that often accompanies rare medical conditions—when boxes can’t easily be checked, patients like Aidan fall through the cracks of support systems designed for more common disabilities.

As medical science continues to advance, cases like Aidan’s remind us how much remains unknown about the human nervous system. Somewhere in his medical history might lie clues to his condition—a virus, an environmental toxin, a rare genetic mutation—but for now, Aidan and his family continue their search for answers in a world where cold burns like fire, and heat chills like ice.

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Cover Photo: Angela McManus