A teen is so allergic to the cold his parents are "terrified" he could die if he walked to school.
Calum Courtney is so allergic to the cold his parents have the heating on all day and drive him to school as they fear he could die if he walked. The 14-year-old suffers from a condition called cold urticaria meaning he can't go outside the house for more than 15 minutes without his skin breaking into red and itchy rashes.
The allergy is so bad Calum breaks out in hives if the temperature is less than 24C or if he isn't covered by the duvet while sleeping. Mum Tupney and dad David, both 38, fear the allergy could send him into a deadly anaphylactic shock as he hasn't been prescribed an EpiPen.
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Calum breaks out in a rash that starts off with red dots like chicken pox then gets bigger and joins together. Mum Tupney said he goes itchy and gets a pinching feeling. She added if he's in water that's too cold he goes bright red and feels like he's going to pass out.
She said: "I think that's the early stages of anaphylactic shock. You have to really warm him up and try and get him warm from the inside with hot drinks.
"You have to think of everything. If he hurts himself, he can't have a cold compress. He banged his hand at school and they said he needed to go to hospital because his hand had doubled in size but when I got there, he had a cold compress on it so as soon as I warmed it up, it went down.
"You don't know what reaction he could have, he could have anaphylactic shock, it's not beyond the realms of possibility even though he hasn't, it could happen at any point."
Calum was forced to give up playing football just after he was diagnosed ten years ago. Tupney, from Basildon, said: "As a teenager, it affects everything, he can't play out or play sports. He had to stop playing football because his whole face swells up.
"He can't be outside for long if it's cold. He goes out and has to keep coming back in. He always gets really hot because we have to wrap his skin up. He used to really get upset because he really wanted to play football.
"As a young boy, playing football puts you in the group of kids that everyone wants to talk to. He breaks out on whatever part of the body is cold."
Calum was first diagnosed when he was four after erupting in hives at a family wedding. After originally thinking it was a pollen reaction his parents realised something was wrong when winter came and he was "smothered in lumps" when playing football.
They were told by doctors it was a reaction to the weather and to manage it by keeping him warm and out of the cold. The family are speaking out in the hopes of finding a cold urticaria specialist and raising awareness as Tupney said half the battle is trying to convince people the condition is real.
She said: "It's really difficult. We need help. It's ten years of struggling, I wish we could get him a proper antihistamine that meant he could play out without looking like he's got a disease.
"Doctors suggest a lifestyle change to avoid the cold, ok we won't live, we'll stay indoors, not doing anything or going anywhere. You can't change your life and move abroad."
Calum has to be taken to school every day as he wouldn't make the 45-minute journey without having a break out. When he goes to watch his brother play football he needs tracksuits, hot water bottles and blankets to stay warm but will still often have to go and get in the car.
The family are looking forward to a holiday in Turkey in August but Tupney had to book a hotel with an indoor, heated swimming pool as she worries that being in cold water could send Calum into anaphylactic shock.
Tupney said: "It affects everything, we could never go to a cold country, we can't go to most hotels because they have cold swimming pools. It stops us being able to holiday abroad because they don't have heated swimming pools. We picked the hottest country we could find.
"It affects so much, when kids want to go ice skating, when kids want to go swimming, anywhere, to the beach, he can't go because it's too risky. We went to swim with dolphins in Florida and he couldn't stay in the water.
"I have to research the hotels and it costs a lot more money if there's an indoor swimming pool because he can't go in cold water and in another country it's even more scary and you haven't got an EpiPen. It's terrifying.
"We're going to be burning hot but otherwise we'll never be able to go and try things out."
