Don't be scared of my baby!

Jan 3 2009 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Stephanie Brown,

A MIRFIELD baby has one of the rarest medical conditions in the UK.

One-year-old Stephanie Brown is covered from head to toe in spots which make some people shy away from her.

It even caused the Mirfield family problems when they went on holiday, with airline crew worried about letting her on board for fear the condition was contagious.

But now her mum, Maria, wants everyone to know they do not have to stay away from Stephanie who has a rare form of paediatric Diffuse Cutaneous Mastocytosis (DCM).

The rare form she has affects only three other children in the UK.

The condition means Stephanie’s body produces too many ‘mast’ cells, which is a blood cell formed in the bone marrow to aid in fighting off infection and illness.

When they go into overdrive to protect Stephanie’s skin from harm they produce little itchy spots.

But rather than feeling sorry for Stephanie, some people run a mile.

The final straw came when Maria and Stephanie were almost refused on a flight as other passengers would not travel with her on board.

Maria, 37, an administration and finance officer for Kirklees Council, said: “We have cleared a full shop before with people fearing they would catch something.

“We get old people coming up to her pushchair to say hello, see what she looks like and then carry on walking.

“I struggled taking her to baby clinics because of bad reactions from other patients.

“Women would pull their children away and not give us another look. It was heartbreaking.”