When Savannah Fulkerson turned 4 years old, something awful began to happen. It seemed that every time she'd go outside to play, she would come home shrieking in pain.
Her mother was completely clueless. What was wrong with her daughter?
“We’d be outside about 20 minutes or so … she’d say, ‘I burn!’ ” Savannah’s mother Andrea Fulkerson told ABC. Andrea said Savannah had so much pain, she had “uncontrollable screaming like she got hit by a car," and that "she would just cry for hours on end."
Andrea took her daughter to see multiple doctors and pediatricians but they offered no explanation or solace. Some even dismissed her condition as eczema since she had blisters and scars.
Finally, after five years of testing, the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, diagnosed her with a rare condition called erythropoietic protoporphyria or EPP.
Essentially, Savannah is allergic to the sun. Allergies to unavoidable substances can be painful but there is always hope; when vets discovered Adam, a stray, was allergic to humans they were still able to find him a forever home.
While there is no cure for EPP, the condition is more common than you'd expect. Finally learning what was causing her so much pain, Savannah has met the many other children and teens like her.
Now that she can treat the condition, she has joined the cheerleading and gymnastics team. She's even made friends with others who have EPP.
"She loved it," Andrea said of Savannah. "She said she didn’t have to explain anything … They have fun together and don’t have to explain anything."
See the incredible story of the girl allergic to sunlight below and SHARE if you're glad she has found hope.
