It’s instinctive for humans to shy away from unsightly things because our brains have been hardwired to do so; it’s the body’s way of interpreting potential threats, acquired from our ancestors in the wild.
This very instinct is the cause of this English mother’s grief: her son Oscar has a rare disease called Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis which causes angry red bumps to appear all over his skin, and whenever people see her son, they are terrified.
Although his disease isn’t contagious, people are still reluctant to come near him.
READ: A rare illness is causing this boy’s skin to turn into stone
“People always ask if he’s got chicken pox, and they often stare at him and point him out in the street—people don’t want to come near him because they think they might catch it,” said his mother Steph in a Daily Mail report.
“He’s got spots all over his body—even on his tongue and his eyeballs – which makes me worry about what’s going on inside.”
In fact last Christmas he was stopped from meeting Santa because everyone thought he was contagious.
Because LCH can affect bones and other organs, Oscar also suffers from an enlarged liver, spleen, as well as a weakened immune system because his blood cells and bone marrow don’t properly reproduce.
Daniel Langham with her son Oscar ; Photo credit: Carters News Agency
Doctors also have no idea what is causing it.
In fact when he was born, the doctors and his parents didn’t think much of his spots, but these spots continued to grow.
“So little is known about it, that no one knows how to help him. It’s a worry, because we just don’t know what the future holds,” Steph said.
READ: Baby with rare genetic condition is born without a nose
Despite his son’s condition, however, she said Oscar is a happy child, and that “as long as he’s happy and healthy, we don’t care about how he looks on the outside.”
Oscar has been treated with a combination of chemotherapy and steroids,
According to reports, he has undergone chemotherapy treatments, countless blood tests, steroids, weekly blood and platelet transfusions, six bone marrow tests and two skin biopsies since his birth in May 2015, but his condition remains.
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