Teen with rare skin condition cruelly dubbed 'snake lady' vows to defy her bullies
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A teenager has been cruelly dubbed "snake lady" because of an ultra-rate generic condition where her body is covered in scales.
Floraine Nalugon needs to constantly smear her body with moisturiser to stop it from hardening and seizing up.
The 17-year-old, from Bukindnon in the Philippines, said her bedding is covered in "scales" every morning when she wakes up.
She also revealed how much it hurts her when she hears other people "making fun" of her - and how it has motivated her to study hard and get a good job to defy her bullies.
She rarely ventures into crowded places in a bid to avoid unwanted stares.
The teen suffers with ichthyosis, a condition where a faulty gene affects the rate at which the skin regenerates causing a build-up of rough, scaly skin.
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Floraine hopes to be treated by experts in Spain who are looking into her case.
"When I was seven years old, my parents moved," she said.
"Initially, I thought I could escape kids back home, who ridiculed me for my condition.
"My parents told me that I was conceived out of fish, that's why my skin looks like fish scales to some, while to others it looks like snake skin.
"It hurts me lot hearing other people making fun of me.
"My parents gave me the strength through.
"They showered me with love despite my physical deformities."
India-based press agency Newslions is currently helping Shalini Yadav, 16, from Madhya Pradesh get treatment for a similar condition in Malaga.
They have taken details of Floraine's case to the same doctors.
"I'm very excited to know that there is a treatment of the disease I suffer from," Floraine said.
"I will be studying hard, get a good job and show to people that discriminate against me that there is a chance for me to be like them also.
"I am hopeful that I will also be treated like the Indian girl, who suffers from the same disease like mine, is being treated today."
