The mother of a young girl in Queensland, grappling with a painful and poorly understood skin condition, initially mistook her daughter's affliction for a severe sunburn. 11-year-old Summah Williams was recently hospitalised in Brisbane with a painful rash.
"Her skin was so inflamed, there were dry cracks everywhere," her mother Karyn Zimny, 47, told 7 News.com.
"She was shivering when it was hot, and itching all night.
"When we went to the hospital, she had a staph infection and when she was on antibiotics, her whole face and body shed like a snake from head to toe, the bath would be full of skin.
"People look at Summah when we go to the shops, and during this flare, everywhere we went, people thought she was sunburned."
During her hospital stay, Summah received a diagnosis of severe eczema, coupled with an allergy to her tears and sweat.
As an award-winning dancer, she is currently undergoing a trial for a new injection treatment, though she continues to endure painful facial flares.
"(Summah's) allergic to her tears, and when she's crying, she comes out in a rash and gets what we call 'Panda eyes'," Zimny said.
"She's also allergic to her sweat, which is heartbreaking as she loves dancing.
"When she looks at all her other dance friends, she gets upset and asks, 'Why can't I have skin like them?' It's heartbreaking."
According to the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Australian children have one of the highest incidences of eczema in the world.
