Girl Wakes With Unexplained Welts On Waist, Total Anguish One Day Later

The mother of an average 8-year-old girl was completely perplexed when her daughter woke with welts on her waist for seemingly no reason. Within hours, hives spread down from her midsection to her groin, then eventually covered the top half of her legs. The following day, the normally energetic little girl was nearly incapacitated, had no energy, could barely walk and sit, and slept excessively.

When little Hattie Benton’s condition continued to deteriorate and couldn’t be classified as the flu that had affected several family members in her home, her concerned mother, Fiona, took her to the family doctor in their hometown in England. The physician didn’t offer much of a diagnosis, passing her worsening condition off simply as growing pains. Fiona’s motherly instincts told her it was something more serious, but the cause was something she did to protect her daughter.

Hattie’s condition persisted for another month, back when it all began in 2013, with no further explanation than the vague and ridiculous reason of “growing pains.” Her pain and exhaustion was so extensive that it prevented her from being able to do normal kid things.

“Hattie is usually so lively and energetic, but she was utterly wiped out,” Fiona explained to the Daily Mail. “She was just about getting into school but wasn’t able to do PE or even sit on the floor because she found it too painful. She would come home and go straight to sleep because she was so tired.”

Rather than seeking another doctor, her parents returned back to the original physician who changed his diagnosis to an equally idiotic reason, claiming the girl had pulled a hamstring. He prescribed her painkillers and sent the family on their way. Sure enough, the medication didn’t work, and Hattie’s agony continued, until finally they sought the advice of a pediatric physiotherapist who demanded the family doctor perform a blood test.

Why it didn’t dawn on the doctor to draw blood months before when she first arrived at his office is beyond reason, because now that he tested it, the cause of her condition was revealed. Hattie was suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency caused by her mother’s overzealous application of sunscreen and limiting the child’s time outdoors.

Like many responsible parents, Fiona is exceptionally concerned about skin cancer and diligent in her preventative measures to limit her children’s exposure. But there is good in sunlight, mainly that it provides a natural dose of vitamin D, which in moderation does a body good.

“As a parent, you want to protect your children against skin cancer and think you’re doing the right thing, but it’s possibly the wrong thing,” Fiona said in the aftermath of the real diagnosis.

Hattie has since been on a heavy dose of vitamin D supplements to bring her back to the happy and healthy girl she was before her ordeal, paired with what’s perhaps the best medication — playtime outside.

The mother’s intentions were good, but just like anything in excess isn’t healthy, the same goes for being overly cautious on kids. Helicopter parenting can backfire in a number of ways, this deficiency just being one. But not letting kids play freely outside in a safe place, robs them of their childhood, and in this case, made a little girl sick.