If She Touches Water Her Skin Started To Burn

Girl's allergy to water is so extreme even a tear rolling down her cheek leaves her in agony

17 year old Niah Selway is in pain every day, yet she dare not cry. She is so allergic to water that even her own tears make her skin erupt in excruciating hives. 

She is one of only 35 people in the world to suffer from aquagenic urticarial.

The distressing symptoms began when she was five but no one could work out the cause.
So, just like her pals, she went swimming, would get caught in rain and splashed in puddles, never suspecting it was the water that triggered her painful rash.

A dermatologist diagnosed aquagenic urticaria but there is no cure.
Niah, who can drink water pain-free, explained: “I’m trying different strengths of antihistamine to see if they can help the level of my reaction but they won’t ever stop it.”
So the plucky business student from Hastings, East Sussex, accepts she must live with her discomfort.

When she showers, Niah has to time her soak just right to make it as pain-free as possible. “I can be in there for five minutes before it starts happening,” she said.

Boyfriend Hussain hates to see Niah suffer. She said: “It’s really horrible for him because I just need to be left alone.”
And the cruel allergy means that if it all gets too much, just one tear makes the pain even worse.
Niah sighed: “It will start to sting and feel really sore and difficult to touch.”