A Filipina schoolgirl with a rare disease suffered by only 250 people in the world has been left with stunning silver eyes - with locals mistaking them for coloured contact lenses.

Lyza Lachica, 19, was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Cogan's syndrome when she was 12 years old in Manila, the Philippines, in 2016.

In secondary school, Lyza complained about constant dizziness, nausea, and ringing in her ears, so her mother Dareen took her to specialists who found out about the girl's illness.

The condition has slowly become worse but it has had one silver lining - a piercing colour to her eyes that leaves strangers spellbound and sure that she is using trendy coloured contact lenses.

Footage shows Lyza, who is now in the final year of college before attending university, displaying her natural eyes that now have been coated with a silvery hue due to her immune system attacking the cornea.

It has turned her vision blurry and affected her hearing, so she and her sister learned sign language. However, Lyza has continued attending a regular school where she did activities like dancing with her classmates.

Lyza said: ‘My family has been patient with me, and I am happy that they are always by my side. I don't want to be totally blind. I hope there will be a cure for me.

'People don't believe that my eyes are real. They think I'm using lenses. But they are my real eyes. My friends and family are used to it now.

'Sometimes strangers will say to me I have beautiful eyes, but they don't know the true reason why they look like this.'

Doctor Richard Nepomuceno, an eye surgeon from the Philippine General Hospital who recently treated Lyza, said: ‘Cogan's syndrome is an autoimmune disease. This means that her immune system is attacking her body. It attacks her ears, eyes, and nerves in her body.'

The medic added that the white coating on her eyes was caused by the immune system attacking her cornea.

He added: ‘It also attacks the hearing system. There are only about 250 cases reported. It's very rare. She's the first patient I've seen in more than 25 years of practice.'

Lyza's mother Dareen said the doctors could not detect what was wrong with her daughter at first and prescribed them different medicines. They moved to several hospitals in the capital until a specialist told them she had a rare disease.

She said: 'Lyza told me one day after school, ‘Ma, I want to vomit'. Ever since then, my daughter would often be dizzy. She had arthritis in her toes and fingers. We moved to different doctors until we found out what was wrong. We were so confused.

‘She used to be a very active child. She can no longer run without falling. I feel sorry for my daughter, but I will always be here to support her.'

Meanwhile, the doctor said her treatment would depend on the affected part of her body when symptoms develop.

Doctor Richard said: ‘We can do a corneal transplant. The survival of the new cornea will depend on how we can control the autoimmune disease further down the line.'

Cogan's syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease primarily affecting the eyes and inner ears. It can also cause inflammation of the blood vessels and other organs, such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys.