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Mother shows strangers her ill daughter is not ‘contagious’ by showering her with love

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Photo: Caters/ Magazine Features
Photo: Caters/ Magazine Features

Her daughter is covered in large, red bumps that become so dry and flaky, they start peeling and leave her looking like someone who ‘has a contagious disease’.

"I decided to name her my 'unicorn baby' and referred to the skin problems as 'unicorn spots' because she's so rare and special,” says the doting mother, who’s decided to devote affection to her daughter, despite the little girl’s horrid skin disease.

Ashley Nagy (29) from Queen Creek, Arizona, in the United States, is combatting the stares and cruel comments of strangers by showing affection to 19-month-old Charlie in public.

The little girl was diagnosed with psoriasis at four months after the small red dots that appeared all over her skin developed into large welts that would peel and flake-off.

Charlie had her first psoriasis flare-up at two months old. It started off as small reddish bumps that developed into larger patches.

Photo: Caters/ Magazine Features

Doctors believe she is one of the youngest patients to have such a severe case.

"While we were in hospital, doctors, volunteers and nurses kept running in and out to observe her, because it was so rare to have psoriasis at her age,” says Ashley, a real estate agent.

She and her husband, Andrew (32), decided to give little Charlie the nickname of unicorn baby, in the hopes of making light of a disheartening situation.

"I chose to compare it to a unicorn as I thought it was something positive and less intimidating, as she gets older I'm sure it will help her see that her skin is beautiful."

But the couple say they have fallen victim to harsh comments from the public.

"Strangers can be very cruel about it. When we've taken her to the playground, the parents of other children have dragged their kids away thinking she's contagious,” Ashley explains.

"Most people move away, afraid they are going to catch whatever she has or move their kids away so she can't get to close or play with them.”

The mother has now decided to take a stand against such humiliating behaviour.

"My response is normally to pick Charlie up and kiss her so that people can see she is not contagious and being near her isn't going to hurt anyone.”

One of the couples’ main priorities is to foot the exorbitant medical expenses that come along with stabilising Charlie’s disease.

"It was really hard to get our insurance to cover her full medical bills as they have not experienced such a young case before and so have no other cases to compare her to."

Ashley has now set up a GoFundMe page to help cover Charlie's medical bills, check-ups and treatment, as well as donating to the Phoenix Children's Hospital who treated her during a bad flare-up.

In the meantime, her parents combat the itchy and painful flare-ups that cover her head to toe with a specialist two-hour bathing routine.

In addition to this, they’ve put her on a gluten and dairy-free diet, with a daily cod liver oil and aloe smoothie, which has stopped her from needing oral medication.  

- MAGAZINE FEATURES

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