Champion Irish dancing teen left bedbound can now walk again

Connie McGrath's conditon was so bad she was unable to even go for a walk without suffering a severe reaction.

But the 15-year-old from Worcester is finally getting back to doing what she loves after a miraculous form of therapy at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

This was the first time that the form of therapy has been carried out on a child in Worcestershire’s hospitals.

Connie was an active and sporty girl throughout her early childhood but began developing red itchy rashes after any physical activity as she entered her early teens.

Having tried a number of antihistamine treatments, specialist doctors at Worcestershire Royal Hospital diagnosed Connie with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria.

They decided to give her a little-known treatment called Omalizumab therapy.

The therapy involves receiving monthly injections of a special drug and began to relieve Connie’s symptoms within days.

After just four courses of injections, Connie has almost no symptoms at all and has begun dancing and exercising again.

For years, Connie was unable to take part in any form of exercise, break a sweat or even take a hot bath without getting severe hives rashes all over her body.

Just going for a walk outside in winter would lead to a bad bout of itching and soreness.

Connie said: “I started getting this when I was about 12, and I had a lot less energy - I was just lying in bed all day.

"From the very first injections I had, I was able to be so much more active.

"After the first one my hives went down quite dramatically, but then from the second one onwards I’ve basically had no symptoms.

“I wasn’t expecting it to work this quickly at all, and when it started to work it felt like a lifesaver.

"Now I have so much more energy and I feel a lot happier again.”

Connie’s mum, Meghan described her daughter as a "bubbly ball of energy" before her symptoms began.

But years of being unable to do many of the activities she loved took its toll on Connie who was losing her confidence and her zest for life.

Mum Meghan said: “Connie’s condition had a huge impact on her life and her mental health.

"She’s always been very sporty and bubbly, but she just had to stop doing anything physical which was very hard for her as she’s a ball of energy.

“She was a champion Irish Dancer but she couldn’t even practice.

"She had to leave all her extra-curricular sports teams, was unable to do PE at school and couldn’t even bathe as sitting in a warm bath triggered the Urticaria.”

The condition affected Connie so much that she began to stop socialising with her friends as she was embarrassed about her appearance whenever her rashes flared up.

Although Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria is not uncommon - affecting around 3 per cent of people at some point in their lives – the symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable and debilitating.

It is common to manage the symptoms with antihistamine treatments, but these conventional methods were all unsuccessful for Connie.

Connie was eventually referred to Worcestershire Royal Hospital and was seen by Dr Paul Watson, a consultant paediatrician with specialist interest in respiratory and allergy, and Phoebe Moulsdale, allergy nurse specialist for children and young people.

Dr Paul Watson said: “It’s not common to give this therapy to children and Connie is the first paediatric patient we have given this to at our hospital trust.

"The treatment is usually quite successful with adults, but Connie has shown a really remarkable improvement.

“She has gone from not being able to do much at all, and staying on the sofa in fear of an outbreak, to going back to her dancing within a few months.”

The Omalizumab drug injections are designed to reduce the body’s histamine chemicals which are the immune system’s natural response to a potential allergic reaction.

In patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria, this immune response causes irritating hives and itchiness.

Allergy nurse specialist Phoebe said: “We carried out standardised quality of life assessments with Connie and it was obvious the negative impact the condition was having on her wellbeing, so we’ve been really pleased that we’ve been able to massively improve her quality of life.”

Connie’s mum, Meghan added: “Dr Watson and Phoebe have been amazing.

"Luckily for Connie, it’s been a miracle cure. She’s had no side effects at all and within the first week she was able to start PE at school and practice dance again.

"Now Connie has no symptoms, she’s doing all her sports again, socialising with more confidence and is back to the ball of energy we all loved.

“The treatment has really changed her life. Connie couldn’t be happier and Dr Watson and Phoebe have just been wonderful, we really can’t thank them enough.”