'His skin is shedding like a snake's - he's in agony': Boy, 7, suffers horrific allergic reaction to epilepsy medication

• Oakley Orange was diagnosed with epilepsy and given medication
• But 12 days later he got a headache, cold and developed a rash
• His entire body burst into blisters before his hair and finger and toe nails fell out - leaving him looking he had been burnt alive. He has lost all his skin
  
• He is suffering from rare condition called Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) which causes the cells in skin to die before shedding
• Is now on  life-support machines and sedated to allow his body to recover

By ANNA HODGEKISS

PUBLISHED: 17:22 GMT, 27 December 2013 | UPDATED: 20:41 GMT, 27 December 2013

A seven-year-old boy who suffered a severe allergic reaction to his medication has developed a rare condition which caused his skin to shed.

Oakley Orange was diagnosed with epilepsy and given medication to help manage his condition.

But 12 days after taking the tablets, the youngster started to complain of a headache and cold and developed a rash.

Then his entire body burst into blisters before his hair and finger and toenails fell out - leaving him looking he had been burnt alive.

The bizarre condition is known as Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), which causes the cells in skin to die before shedding - rather like a snake's.

The severe reaction caused Oakley to lose 100 per cent of his skin and is causing damage to his internal organs.

The youngster has been on life-support machines and sedated for three weeks to allow his body to recover.

But his distraught parents Lorraine, 45 and Steven, 43, have been warned by doctors that his chance of survival is just 65 per cent.

Mrs Orange, from Strood, Kent, has lobbied the drugs company to include a warning on medication.

She said: 'It is the most horrific thing for a parent to have to see their child suffer in the way Oakley has. You feel so helpless.

'It has been the worst thing I could ever describe, devastating. He is in agony - and usually he is such a happy little boy.

'He loves playing on his Xbox and riding his bike and his scooter. Now he can’t even open his eyes.

'Everybody who meets him falls in love with him. I know I’m biased because I’m his mum, but Oakley is the sort of little boy that, when you meet him, you don’t forget him.

'On Friday we thought we had lost him when his temperature plummeted and he was diagnosed with hypothermia but the doctors have been able to warm him up. After Friday I think he can fight anything.

'Each day it is something else, we don’t know what is going to happen, one hour to the next.

'The condition is affecting all his major organs. One day he could be fine and then it will affect something else. The doctors will treat that, and then it will affect something else.'

She added: 'We need to raise awareness about the side effects of this drug and make sure it has a warning on the label. In America the drug carries a warning so it should do here, too.

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2530028/His-skin-shedding...