Bizarre allergy behind 11-year-old girl’s debilitating skin condition

A mother has opened up about her young daughter’s debilitating skin condition and allergies to her tears and sweat.

Summah Williams, 11, was recently hospitalised in Brisbane after breaking out in a painful rash that her mother Karyn Zimny thought was just a sunburn.

After going on antibiotics for a staph infection, Summah’s skin from her head to her toes shed ‘like a snake’. 

The dancer was diagnosed with an extreme case of eczema causing her skin to become dry, itchy and easily irritated as well as being allergic to her tears and sweat.

While eczema can usually be treated through regular moisturising and steroid creams, Summah’s case is so severe that she’s receiving experimental treatment.

Ms Zimny said her daughter’s condition has led to people staring at her on the street during a flare up.

‘People look at Summah when we go to the shops, and during this flare, everywhere we went, people thought she was sunburned,’ Ms Zimny told 7News. 

Summah’s rare allergy leaves her with puffy ‘panda eyes’ whenever she cries.

It is also seriously affecting her love for dancing as when she sweats her skin will start to flare up and become irritated.

‘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,’ Ms Zimny said.

There is no known cure for eczema, which mostly affects children aged between six and 12.

There is also no known cause of the skin condition, however it is believed it can be passed on genetically.

Eczema effects up to 30 per cent of children and 10 per cent of adults across Australia, according to Eczema Support Australia.

While the condition causes near-constant irritation and pain, sufferers have also been shown to be contending with more far reaching affects.

‘Compared to the general public, those living with eczema are 44 per cent more likely to have insomnia, 41 per cent more likely to have anxiety and 79 per cent more likely to have depression,’ Eczema Support Australia’s website reads.

The organisation’s managing direction, Melanie Funk said the combination of discomfort and social isolation was extremely harmful.

‘Being excluded socially due to lack of awareness and judgement of appearance plus the prolonged, severe, sleep deprivation and ongoing discomfort, all take their toll,’ Ms Funk said.