health

You won't believe the taunts thrown at this mother when she takes her daughter out.

It makes you wonder how people can be so cruel.

For this Mum being judged takes on a whole new sinister tone.

Every time this mother takes her daughter out of the house she is judged. She is blamed. She is taunted.

She’s a bad mother.  She’s cruel. Look at what she has done.

She is yelled at and called names. She is accused of harming her daughter.

When, in fact, she is striving to do the very opposite. She is striving to save her from a life of pain.

This little girl, five-year-old Bethany Wagstaff suffers from a rare form of eczema, which causes her skin to burn and blister when exposed to sunlight.

Her mum, Amy from Surrey in the UK, has to cover her in bandages to stop her scratching at her sores.

It’s a desperately painful condition for the little girl whose skin changed from red to white within seconds of being exposed.

But instead of strangers being sympathetic or kind to Amy what they do will make your stomach turn.

They accuse Amy of burning her daughter.

“When it gets really hot, I cover her in bandages to stop her from scratching at her blisters and sores, and people actually accuse me of burning my daughter.

“They shout at me, saying I’m a bad mother.” Amy told The Daily Mail.

Bethany has to wear a treatment suit.

But it isn’t just Amy they target.

“Sometimes they point and stare at Bethany - which makes her feel uncomfortable.

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“It’s disgusting what people say. I don’t know why they are so cruel to a little girl. She’s dealing with so much she doesn’t need ignorant people pointing and shouting abuse.”

For 26-year old Amy life is tough, she has to apply sunscreen to Bethany’s skin six times daily and the little girl requires a bathes twice a day to prevent her skin from flaring up.

Amy says “If exposed to the sun, her skin will change colour from white to red within seconds. She is constantly scratching or picking at her skin.

Bethany was only six months old when Amy started to notice red patches. She was told initially it was a reaction to her breast milk, but switching to soy formula didn’t help.

Bethany as a toddler.

“It was terrifying watching her skin turn red, she’d cry uncontrollably and there was nothing I could do to soothe her. I decided to stop taking her outside and brought bandages to wrap around her hands to stop her scratching.”

When Bethany was two-years old she was diagnosed with photoaggravated eczema, caused by an allergy to sunlight and heat and was prescribed the drug Azathioprine.

She is also treated with a wet wrap treatment to soothe the redness and itching.

Doctors expected Bethany to grow out of the condition by the time she was four-years old, but she hasn’t shown any signs,as yet, of it going away.

Her mum just wants her to live a normal life

It is a sad reflection of how cruel people can be when they accuse a struggling family of abuse and belittle a child. You can only imagine how difficult it must be dealing with a daily struggling like this.

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On a Facebook page set up called Understanding and support for Bethany Amy recently posted about how Bethany finds it hard to cope.

“Bethany is still not great and now her behaviour has spiralled out of control and she is refusing her treatment at home! Its got to the point now I think from her perspective she knows the sun is back out and she's realised what's coming for her. Bethany really wants to be different than what she is and normal and is now rebelling because of this its so sad.”

While she dreads the start of summer in the UK, Amy has started up a fundraising page hoping to help meet some costs associated with treating her daughter. One item she needs to continually purchase are 'Wrap E Soothe' body suits that stop Bethany from scratching at her sores and developing infections.

“She's constantly growing and needs a new suit every nine months to a year, which cost around £100 each time.” Amy told The Daily Mail.

Overall Amy just wants to give Bethany a normal life.

“I don't want her to feel "different" and miss out on things.

"She has lots of friends at school and I let her go to some parties, but dread her having a reaction when I'm not around.”

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