A baby boy, 10-months-old, is covered in angry red bumps that are everywhere – including his eyeball and tongue. Oscar Langham has a rare disease called Langerhans’ cell histiocytosis which is a cancer-like disease.
But if poor little Oscar doesn’t have enough problems, people often mistake his skin condition with chicken pox and stay clear of him. They fear that what he has is contagious.
THE 10-MONTH-OLD BOY’S CONDITION HAS GOTTEN SO BAD, STRANGERS ARE AFRAID TO TOUCH THE BOY BECAUSE THEY FEAR THEY’LL “CATCH WHAT HE’S GOT.”
When he was just 4-months-old, Oscar was diagnosed with the rare disease. The condition causes the boy’s body to accumulate too many Langerhans cells which are white blood cells supported to fight infection. But for the baby, they’re causing tumors and organ damage.
Although the 10-month-old has undergone chemotherapy and steroid treatment, the red lumps remain. Doctors are baffled and have no idea how the disease will progress.
THE BOY’S PARENTS, 20-YEAR-OLD DANIEL LANGHAM AND STEPH WEBSTER, 26, ARE DESPERATE TO KNOW THE CAUSE.
“When Oscar was born he had a few spots over his body,” Oscar’s mom said. “At first we didn’t realize there was anything wrong, we thought it was just something normal like neonatal rash – but a midwife saw him and realized there might be a problem.“Since then, the spots have got progressively worse and worse.”
Although Oscar’s condition is not catching, people are terrified of the little boy’s skin.
“People always ask if he’s got chicken pox, and they often stare at him and point him out in the street – people don’t want to come near him because they think they might catch it,” mom said.“AT CHRISTMAS AT THE TRAFFORD CENTRE IN MANCHESTER THEY TRIED TO STOP HIM SEEING SANTA BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT HE WAS CONTAGIOUS.ONCE I EXPLAINED IT WASN’T CHICKEN POX AND IT’S NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN CATCH HE WAS ALLOWED IN.
“It does sometimes upset me, but if you let every little thing upset you you’d never leave the house, so we just get on with it.
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