‘She couldn’t go anywhere alone’: Family of missing schoolgirl Nora Quoirin, 15, reveal she suffers from a debilitating brain condition and relies on nightly cuddles as searches continue to find her in Malaysia

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Nora Quoirin was discovered missing on Sunday morning hours after arriving with her family at the 12-acre Dusun eco-resort for a two-week holiday

The family of missing schoolgirl Nora Quoirin revealed for the first time last night that she suffers from a debilitating brain condition.

It means the 15-year-old ‘does not go anywhere alone’ and struggles to complete everyday tasks.

As searches continued in the Malaysian jungle last night, the family’s heart-breaking statement told how she relies on nightly cuddles and storytelling with her mother.

She was discovered missing on Sunday morning hours after arriving with her family at the 12-acre Dusun eco-resort for a two-week holiday.

Her relatives’ statement last night reiterated their belief that she could have been abducted from her family’s holiday cottage.

‘She is not like other teenagers,’ they said. ‘She is not independent and… is very sensitive. Outside the family, Nora is very shy and can be quite anxious.

‘Every night, her special time is for cuddles and a night-time story with her mum. She was extremely excited about the holiday in Malaysia.’

Local police have insisted that Nora is most likely to have wandered out of the resort before getting lost in the dense jungle surrounding it. 

But concerns for her welfare will be heightened by her family’s descriptions of her difficulties throughout life.

Nora and her family arrived at the sprawling resort, located 39 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, last Saturday before she went to sleep beside her siblings in an upstairs bedroom. The Dusun resort is pictured above

Nora’s grandfather has previously said that because of her developmental issues, it is ‘unthinkable’ that she left the property on her own.

In a statement released to the media last night, the family revealed that she has a smaller than average brain having been born with Patau’s syndrome, or holoprosencephaly. It has left her with limited speech, walking ability and co-ordination.

The rare genetic disorder, which affects around one in 5,000 births in the UK, has left her under constant medical supervision. 

Her Irish mother Meabh and French father Sebastien have lived in London for 20 years, and have another daughter Innes, 12, and son Maurice, eight.

The statement, which was read by her aunt Eadaoin Agnew, said: ‘Nora is a very special person. She is fun, funny and extremely loving. With her family, she is very affectionate – family is her whole world. She likes to tell us silly jokes and wear clever, colourful T-shirts.’

The statement listed some of the schoolgirl’s everyday challenges, including an inability to make or receive phone calls and to wash her hair.

It described how Nora likes to walk with her family despite limited balance and is learning to ride a bike at school.

‘She has been to Asia and many European countries before and has never wandered off or got lost,’ they said.

Local police have insisted that Nora is most likely to have wandered out of the resort before getting lost in the dense jungle surrounding it. But concerns for her welfare will be heightened by her family’s descriptions of her difficulties throughout life

Search teams in Malaysia have been unable to find any clues in the past six days but police are optimistic that the deployment of nine drones with thermal imaging technology will provide a breakthrough.

Nora and her family arrived at the sprawling resort, located 39 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, last Saturday before she went to sleep beside her siblings in an upstairs bedroom.

She was discovered missing by her father Sebastien the following morning at around 8am, with a large door-sized downstairs window panel wide open.

Her parents have remained at the cottage and have been joined by relatives from London, Singapore and Glasgow.

A poignant voice message recorded by the schoolgirl’s mother, saying ‘Nora, darling, Mummy’s here’, was played through loudspeakers in the jungle by search teams.

Police, who have alerted the international crime-fighting body Interpol, said they have scoured immigration records and found nothing to suggest Nora has left the country.

State deputy police chief Che Zakaria Othman said the search and rescue operation was now going over previously covered terrain in the hope of finding new clues.

Local villagers were joined by police during Muslim Friday prayers yesterday as they sought divine intervention.