Jess Battison
A British mum has issued a warning as her daughter has been left needing a wheelchair after playing with slime.
Nine-year-old M’Layah Chapman was playing with the sticky sensory toy with her friend over the summer of 2023 when small spots started to appear on her skin.
These soon turned into bumps, before becoming blisters which would seep and be infected.
Her mum, Katherine, ended up taking her to a GP before she ended up in a wheelchair and spending time on a hospital ward due to her infection getting so severe.
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M’Layah had suffered with eczema since she was a baby but after playing with slime, it worsened drastically.
Eczema is a very common, non-contagious, dry skin condition affecting one in five babies and children in the UK, according to Allergy UK.
“Since she played with the slime, everything has been bad,” Katherine told the Manchester Evening News. “Her body got infected, and her eczema flared up to the point where she couldn’t walk.
“Her skin flared up and cracked on her legs. She couldn't put them straight and they stayed bent for a while. They were very sore and all tender down the back.”
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M’Layah has had various treatments and creams but continues to struggle with the extreme flare-up with the pain impacting her ‘every single day’.
The youngster, from Fallowfield, Manchester, now can’t do many of the things other children do and the family ‘rarely’ go out.
“We’ve become prisoners in our own home because of her eczema,” the mum added.
M’Layah’s struggles with eczema and allergies had started when she was just six-months-old, with it being found she is allergic to oranges, soya, citrus, milk, nuts, wheat, dust mites and trees.
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It’s never been proven the slime caused the child’s severe flare-up, but Katherine believes it may have been the reason.
“It’s [the eczema] out of my control,” Katherine added. “I can get support with medication, but the eczema flares up when it feels like it wants to. As an adult, I wouldn’t want to go through this.
“She’s off school because it weeps and it’s everywhere – you can see the scratch marks.”
Eczema often appears in the first few months of life and most children find it improves as they get older. But for some of those who experience it severely, there’s a possibility it will persist into adult life.
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Eczema currently has no cure but avoiding trigger factors and having a clear eczema treatment plan helps manage symptoms for most kids.
However, M’Layah and her family are running out of options to ease it and are looking into light therapy, UV light to reduce inflammation.
“It’s impacting her mentally now,” Katherine added. "There’s not enough awareness. It’s been traumatic for her and it’s been upsetting.
“Watching your child in pain and there’s nothing you can do – I wake up and I don’t know where [the eczema] is going to be the next day. Is it going to be on her face?”