Laurence Dollimore
A TEEN dubbed the ‘human snake’ who constantly shed her skin has been cured in Marbella.
Shalini Yadav, 16, shed her skin every six weeks and had to constantly cover her body with moisturiser and bathe every hour to stop her skin from hardening.
Her family were too poor to afford specialist treatment, leaving her unable to walk without a stick.
Her affliction was so severe she could not even walk unassisted.
After doctors in Spain heard her story, they agreed to treat Shalini for free with the help of fundraisers from London.
Using specialist medicine which slows down the growth of her cells, her skin has stopped shedding scales in just 10 days.
The teen, from Nowgong in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has returned to India, but will be supported by the medics for life.
Speaking from Spain, she said: “I can’t wait to go back home and show my new face to the people there. Now, I want all those people to come and stare at me.
“Now, I am confident enough to stare back at those who stared at me and made hurtful comments.
“I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.
“It feels great. I haven’t got a new skin, I have just got a new life.
“In India, nobody would come near me as they thought I was suffering from some contagious disease.
“Forget about common people, even doctors would not come near me. They would examine me from a distance.
“But when doctors carried me in his arms to the ambulance, I was touched by his gestures and wondered why don’t we have doctors like him in India.
“My experience in Spain was very different to India.
“In India, whenever I went out, people stared with derision.
“They interrogated me about my illness and suggested various home remedies and treatments. They treated me like a specimen.
“I felt really bad so I stayed home most of the time.”
Shalini was diagnosed with lamellar ichthyosis, an inflammatory skin disease where her skin grows too fast.
She shed her skin every 45 days since she was born.
A team of 19 specialist doctors from the International Medical Academy in Malaga welcomed her to Hospital Banus in Marbella on September 10.
They gave her €50,000 worth of treatment for free.
Dermatologist Enrique Herrera told the New York Post: “As you can see, we had a very positive response in just ten days of medication.
“I expect in the next two months she will be completely normal.”
