A little girl who came down with a mysterious illness that left her in 'so much pain she couldn't move' is still waiting for a diagnosis - three years later.
When Ellzah Burgess' mum Ashlea noticed her 18-month-old daughter's feet were turning in as she walked, doctors reassured her that she was probably just a late developer, and that her walking would improve with time. But instead her condition worsened, causing the youngster unbearable pain as she suffered from unexplained blistering all over her skin.
Now aged five, the Wolverham Primary School pupil, who lives in Ellesmere Port, uses a wheelchair to get around. But doctors are no closer to identifying the cause of her strange symptoms.
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Mum Ashlea, 30, said: "At the moment, they say it might be hypermobility because she's so young. But she's having tests all the time - we're having another appointment in three weeks time.
"She gets blisters, like when your shoe rubs on the back of your foot. She has that to the point it's all over her body. She had her biggest break-out over Christmas, all over her shoulders and down her back, to the point she couldn't move because she was in so much pain."
Ellzah was born full-term with Strep B and meningitis, and spent three weeks recovering in the neo-natal ward of The Countess of Chester Hospital. Ashlea and dad Nathan, 31, thought she was developing normally, but soon noticed something was different when she started walking.
Ashlea said: "That was when we noticed the strange position her legs were in. It's been ongoing ever since.
"When she was standing, her ankles would go in so they were practically touching when she was walking. At first they thought she was just a new walker and there was nothing wrong with her, and it would correct itself in time - that's what they kept telling me. It got to the stage where she was going to nursery and couldn't walk that far. Then they started taking it seriously."
Ellzah still has not received a diagnosis, despite numerous tests and check-ups at the Countess, Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Ellesmere Port Hospital.
She is still able to walk short distances, but relies on her wheelchair on busy days.
Ashlea, a mum of three, said: "She can still walk, just not very far. It is hard, but there's families much worse off than us out there, and you learn to get on with it. We don't treat her any different to the other two we've got, and that's all that matters. She's happy and that's all me and her dad care about.
"It is hard. but there's much worse families out there and you learn to get on with it. We don't treat her any different to the other two we've got and that's all that matters. She's happy and that's all me and her dad care about."
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