An extremely rare genetic disorder has left a British toddler unable to tolerate sunlight, even in the tiniest doses.
Freddie Mason-Perkins, now 19 months, has trichothiodystrophy, or TTD, which causes his skin to burn when exposed to ultraviolet light.
"Freddie was born at 28 weeks, completely unexpected and, by emergency C-section," said his mother, Carlie Mason-Perkins. And when he was born, he was covered in, it's called collodion membrane. It's a tight, shiny red skin that covered his whole body and in the first couple of weeks of life that all peeled off."
One of the main symptoms is unusual hair, which sparse and brittle and frequently falls out, along with his eyelashes. The boy also suffers from cataracts in both eyes and was born with a hole in his heart.
When he goes out with his mother, she encloses him in a dark sack that blocks all sunlight.
"So he stays ... in there all cocooned, he's quite happy in there," his mother said. "He can see through and if it's a really, really, really sunny day and he [has] sunglasses on also 'cause the sun affects his eyes as well."
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