A 5-year-old girl suffering from a rare condition may die if exposed to very cold weather, according to reports.
Hollie Davies is allergic to the cold. She breaks out into painful rashes within seconds of her skin meeting fresh air. A sudden drop in temperature may send her into a potentially fatal anaphylactic shock. As a result, Hollie is banned from swimming, eating ice cream and playing outside in cold weather.
"It's heart-breaking. She's not allowed out to go and play with her friends. I try my best to explain her condition but it's not easy. We're desperate for the weather outsider to cheer up so she can feel normal again," her mother, Nicola, told the Daily Mail.
Nicola said that some people tend to laugh at the idea that Hollie can't get too cold. Those people usually think she's just a paranoid parent, without realizing that it's actually a matter of life and death.
"Her condition is so severe that if she doesn't take her medication, she could go into anaphylactic shock and that is always a fear in the back of my mind," she said. "We have to watch her every move. It's horrible, for six months a year she is basically housebound."
Her condition, also known as cold urticaria, is thought to affect one in every 100,000 people and results in painful hives that tend to last for days, shortness of breath and fatigue. Sufferers may experience severe attacks that may trigger collapse. Some patients may also suffer shock and die.
There is no known cure.
