A rare skin disease caused James McCallum, now 18 months old, to be born with a kind of “shell” on his back. The dark spot with fur, with an irregular appearance, earned the boy from Florida, in the United States, the affectionate nickname of ‘little ninja turtle’ given by his parents, Kaitlyn and Tim McCallum.
“It looked like a birthmark of sorts, but with some scabs. It was a little worrying as it felt like something was wrong. We had to sleep with James on his side as he couldn’t put his head down because the shell was too bulky.” daily mail.
In addition to having trouble sleeping, James also constantly scratched his back.
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James was diagnosed at 2 months old with congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN), a type of pigmented birthmark that can appear anywhere on the body and is classified according to size. When he was born, James had 75% of his back covered and the spot quickly spread, becoming thicker and more patchy.
Approximately 1% of babies worldwide are born with the mark. The giant nevus, like the American one, is rare, with an incidence of one in every 20,000 live births.
The condition is caused by abnormal development of pigment cells during the first trimester of pregnancy. Although benign, if left untreated, nevus can also affect the brain and spinal cord, leading to seizures, as well as increasing the risk of skin cancer in the future.
James underwent two surgeries – at 6 and 9 months old – to remove the skin patches and received tissue expanders to stimulate the formation of a new layer of skin at the site and prevent the scab from growing back. The equipment must be used by the end of this month. Doctors hope the boy will be completely healed by August, when he celebrates his 2nd birthday.
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“The doctor told us that once it’s removed, it’s gone. He will only have scars which will be minimal and will give James a better quality of life. He might tell a cool story about it (in the future) and say it’s a shark bite or something,” jokes his dad Tim McCallum.
“We were very happy with the results. He was able to lay his head down and looked much more comfortable,” said Kaitlyn.
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The post “Little ninja turtle”: boy gets a nickname from his parents when he was born with a shell on his back first appeared on Metropolis.
