A 13-year-old with a genetic skin condition is no longer a prisoner in her own skin thanks to being granted a lifetime supply of a household product we all take for granted having in our home.
Nagina was born in a rural area of Nepal with a condition called ichthyosis that causes the skin to become thick and scaly and seize up.
Her condition was so severe that she was unable to move when she arrived at the hospital. Ichthyosis affects the rate at which skin regenerates, sometimes shedding old skin cells too slow or reproducing skin too fast.
Her parents were extremely poor and struggled to put food on the table. They had no idea how to deal with their daughter’s condition which is incurable.
The condition can be treated by spending several hours a day moisturizing the skin.
Nagina’s family was so poor that they were unable to afford petroleum jelly to treat her condition. She became depressed and remained indoors to avoid contact with people.
But Nagina is now thriving thanks to a donation of a lifetime supply of Vaseline.
“The difference something as simple as Vaseline has made to her life is incredible,” Dr Bibek Banskota, medical director at the Hospital & Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children told Dail Mail. “When she arrived she was very depressed and could not move. She didn’t talk. So when I found out we could help her for life, I was the happiest person in the world.”
An organization called international charity Direct Relief heard of Nagina’s story and reached out to Vaseline.
Vaseline offered to shipped over large quantities of their jelly to the hospital in Nepal and nurses treated Nagina’s skin with Vaseline soaked gauze.
“It really was a case of using creams to hydrate her skin and a lot of TLC,'” Banskota said. “The nurses were amazing, they wrapped her body in Vaseline-soaked gauze every day and bathed her. She got love and care.”
This enabled Nagina to smile for the first time.
“She smiled for the first time, she had physiotherapy to help her become mobile and she met other children with disabilities,” he added.
Nagina attends a boarding school for children with disabilities which is funded by the hospital and can now enjoy childhood with other children.
The video below highlights just how household items like Vaseline can change lives.
Learn more about The Vaseline Healing Project here.
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