Jackson Rochford is left with painful blisters and his fragile flesh tears whenever he changes clothes or feels the slighest touch. A two-year-old boy with a rare genetic condition nicknamed the
Butterfly Disease has such delicate skin that he can't even wear a pair
of shoes.
Brave Jackson Rochford is left with painful blisters
and his fragile flesh tears whenever he changes clothes or feels the
slighest touch. The tot can't wear jeans or any rough materials because they make his skin peel and chafe. And his condition is so bad that he can't wear any shoes so has to be carried by his mum Kerry, 34, whenever they go outside. Little
Jackson suffers from the rare genetic condition epidermolysis bullosa
(EB) which affects just one in 14,000 people in the UK.
Patients
are known as "Butterfly children" because of their fragile skin and
there is currently no cure with most sufferers having a life expectancy
of just 30 and most victims dying of skin cancer. Today,
Jackson's mum Kerry told how she often gets funny looks and comments
from strangers in public who notice the tot's sores and see he hasn't
got any shoes on. The single mum-of-seven said: "People do stare, especially in cold
weather when Jackson doesn't have any shoes on. They say his skin is as
fragile as a butterfly's.
"I get a lot of comments. When people
see him without shoes I hear them say things like: 'You'd think his
mother would put some shoes on his feet, it's freezing out'. "I
feel like turning round and telling them there's a good reason for that,
but I just smile sweetly back at them. They don't understand." Kerry
also wants more to be done to raise awareness about EB because she
feels most people have no idea about the condition and what it's like to
live with it day to day.
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