A schoolgirl suffers from a water allergy so severe that even having a shower could be fatal.
- Danielle McCraven, 12, is allergic to water, and a simple hot shower or a bath could kill her.
- Her condition is tough to affect less than 100 people worldwide.
- Whenever the girl sweats or cries, she breaks out in painful rashes.
Every time Danielle McCraven, 12, cries or sweats, she breaks out in painful hives. Her allergy is called aquagenic urticaria, which is thought to affect less than 100 people worldwide. It is incredibly severe, meaning that a simple hot shower or a bath could kill her.
The 12-year-old from Haughton, Louisiana, was diagnosed with the condition several months ago, Daily Mail reveals. Prior to the diagnose, Danielle had been a keen swimmer, but she had to give up her hobby in order to survive. Her mother Sari, 39, shares:
“It’s painful and really hard for her, I don’t know what’s going through her head because it’s miserable for her. She used to love swimming and she was in tears last summer when she couldn’t go swimming with her friends.”
The girl’s condition forced her to give up swimming and to stay indoors in the summer in case she sweats and sparks a flare-up.
At first, the girl began to develop an itchy and painful rash whenever she came into contact with water. What is more, she now has to carry an EpiPen in case she goes into anaphylactic shock. Her mom continues:
“It can cause her to go into anaphylactic shock or it can get into her lungs if she has a bad break out so it is life-threatening. It scares me when it covers her whole body because it means it’s getting worse. She’s allergic to bottled water, saltwater, tap water but she can ingest it. It’s stressful when she needs to wash her face or have a shower because she doesn’t want to do it, she’s scared.”
When Danielle was diagnosed with the dangerous condition, she was only 11. She first showed signs of the allergy while having a shower, which caused her to break out in an itchy rash. Her mother initially did not believe she could be allergic to water, but when they went to see a doctor, it was confirmed.
The concerned mother explains:
“Her feet were all red and itchy and it got worse and worse, but I thought she was scratching or rubbing herself because I thought there’s no way a water allergy exists. Then we went swimming one day and she was covered in hives, so I took her to a doctor… Apparently, it’s something that develops in puberty but it’s so rare that they don’t know enough about it to treat it.”
The family is now hoping that Danielle’s condition “doesn’t get worse over time” as they are worried the worst could happen to their beloved girl.
