Girl with severe eczema told mum ‘I don’t want to look at myself in the mirror’ – Liverpool Echo

An eight-year-old girl with severe eczema told her mum she "didn't want to look at herself in the mirror anymore".

Her mum, Maxine, says people used to stop and stare at her little girl in the street.

Macy Foley-Speakman first began to suffer with eczema, which would cause her skin to crack and flare up when she was just three months old.

But Macy has overcome all her obstacles and now, aged eight, shes the face of a range of eczema-friendly clothing at M&S.

Macy first began to suffer with eczema, which would cause her skin to crack and flare up, when she was just three months old.

Maxine, 42, said people would often stop and stare at her daughter in the street and make rude comments, which caused the youngster to become embarrassed of what she looked like.

The mum, from Warrington, said: "People to would stop me and say: 'Has she got chicken pox?'

"People don't realise how hard it is.

"Macy would ask why people are staring and then she stopped looking in the mirror, she would just refuse to look at herself."

Macy's eczema became so bad that mum Maxine gave up her full-time job as a nursery nurse to care for her daughter.

The hands-on mum has since spent the last eight years learning as much as she can about the condition, even creating a Facebook page in hopes of educating others.

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Macy's dad Andrew, 47, also suffers with the condition and like his daughter, often has to go to hospital for treatment.

In a bid to control her eczema which can sometimes become so inflamed her skin turns purple, the schoolgirl has have lotion applied seven times a day.

She also requires special zinc bandaging to soothe the inflammation during flare-ups.

At school the pupil is allowed to wear a cotton uniform rather than polyester and her school friends, who have known her since reception, even help the youngster not to scratch her skin.

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Maxine, who has been "moved to tears" by how kind and supportive Macy's classmates are, said: "Her school and headteacher have been really understanding and she has never been bullied.

"Her friends even hold her hands when she's itchy to stop her from scratching."

But the real turning point for Macy was when she was at home, watching TV and said to her mum "no-one looks like me".

Which is when, instead of becoming down about her condition, Macy decided she wanted to take it in her stride and try to become a model - championing eczema.

And when Eczema Outreach Support charity came into her school she took the opportunity to approach the team, who reached out to M&S - who advertise eczema-friendly clothing lineDreamSkin.

Macy's great-grandmother Jean Guinan, who was a model for M&S in the 1960s, passed away in 2017.

Mum Maxine told the ECHO how her daughter would love getting dressed up for her "Nana Jean" to keep her spirits up in hospital and said she would be so proud to see her now.

Maxine added: "Macy had the time of her life at the photo shoot, even saying: 'Nana Jean would love this!'

"Her skin is too sensitive for makeup but she doesn't mind.

"She likes herself, she smiles and likes what she sees when she looks in the mirror."

Since the photo shoot M&S sent the pictures on to Zebedee, an inclusive management agency, who called up Macy's mum and asked if she would sign with them.

Macy starts with Zebedee in February, where she will be their first model with severe eczema.

The proud mum added: "It would be a great platform to show what eczema can look like as people often think it's a dry patch of skin and not that it can be a debilitating condition."

Originally posted here:
Girl with severe eczema told mum 'I don't want to look at myself in the mirror' - Liverpool Echo