Mum’s heartache as BOTH sons suffer rare skin disease causing agonising blisters at the slightest touch
Plam, three, and his three-month-old brother Pan both suffer epidermolysis bullosa
A MUM has been left heartbroken after both her sons were diagnosed with the same agonising skin disease.
Plam, three, and his three-month-old brother Pan were diagnosed with the inherited condition, epidermolysis bullosa.
It causes the skin to become very fragile, prompting some people to compare a sufferer's skin with a butterfly's wing.
The brothers live with their 21-year-old mum in Rayong, southern Thailand, and grandparents.
Their dad deserted his family, abandoning them while taking the family's savings with him, mum said.
She said she is forced to live with her parents in one small room, and borrow money for food.
Her sons' skin blisters at the slightest touch.
And the condition can also cause a sufferer's fingers and toes to become webbed as the blisters can fuse them together.
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One of the boys is partially blind, but the boys' mum say her sons remain cheerful.
"People stare at my two sons like they are from another planet," she said.
"Some people comment on them looking like aliens."
The family are being helped by former Thai monk Bhin, who tries to support the poor in rural parts of Thailand.
He said often through a lack of education, money, or both, people do not seek the medical help they need to alleviate their child's symptoms.
He said: "I have given them some money which might convince them to visit the doctor but, anyway, will help them in the plight."
Epidermolysis bullosa is caused by faulty genes, in most cases inherited from one or both parents, according to the NHS.
In some cases a parent will have the condition themselves.
It is very rare and affects only one in every 17,000 children born in the UK.
There are currently just 5,000 people known to be living with the skin disease in the UK at the moment.
There is no cure, as yet, and so treatment aims to relieve a sufferer's symptoms and pain.
Doctors also focus on trying to stop any nasty infections developing.
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