A MUM who is covered in thousands of tumours says she gets abused in the street by strangers who think she’s contagious.
Ashley Jernigan, 35, from Montgomery, Alabama, has neurofibromatosis – a rare genetic condition which causes tumours to form on nerve tissue.
The single mum-of-four was diagnosed when she hit puberty but says the condition has worsened after each of her pregnancies.
She says she now faces daily stares and claims people avoid her because they fear they might catch the illness – even though it’s not contagious.
Ashley said: “With this condition, you can still live life like any other normal person.
“It’s just the bullying you have to deal with. It takes a strong person to overcome what people say.
People say ‘look at her, where did she come from and what’s wrong with her’
Ashley Jernigan
“It’s hard, it’s really rough, and depressing.
“When I go out, people stare and make rude gestures.
“They say ‘look at her, where did she come from and what’s wrong with her’.”
The full time mum says the lumps all over her body have also left her feeling like she’ll never find love.
“I don’t want to date because of the stares. A man wouldn’t accept me,” she said.
“It would take a strong man to appreciate me for who I am and look past my condition.”
It would take a strong man to appreciate me for who I am and look past my condition
Ashley
Her mum Lisa died of neurofibromatosis, which affects one in 3,000 people, when she was just 25.
Ashley was advised by doctors not to have children as it would make the condition worse.
But she went on ignore this advice and have four children, Darnell, 15, Devon, 14, Keonna, eight, and Kaiden, five – but said with every pregnancy the condition did worsen.
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 is caused by a gene mutation and causes the growth of tumours along the nerves in the skin, brain and other parts of the body.
It affects around one in 25,000 people worldwide with varying degrees of severity.
Diana Haberkamp, executive director of Neurofibromatosis Midwest, said: “People could live with this condition if they weren’t treated so badly.
“Any tumour removals even if it’s only a few can make a person feel emotionally much better and happier about themselves.
“Some of our community have struggled to find work and have been told that they should be in the circus or freak show, which is horrible.
“Pain management is also one of main problems of NF, there are people who suffer due to tumours under the skin that aren’t visible, which can lead to limb loss and a loss of eyesight too.
“Specialist treatment is really important as no two tumours behave the same, they can wrap themselves around the organs and it takes a lot of experience to understand them.
“We dream of a day when we find a cure, but until then we want people have a concept of NF and understand issues caused by the condition.”
Ashley wants to spread the word that the condition isn’t contagious, but said some of the lumps on her body leave her in too much pain to wear shoes.
Although there is a chance her children could also have or develop the genetic illness, she doesn’t want to have them tested for the condition.
She added: “Kids are more curious and understanding, they think it’s chickenpox or ant bites but I just say I was born like this.”
“I don’t know how far back in my family it goes but my grandmother was covered in them, from head to toe.
“Darnell has it, but my others aren’t showing signs yet.
“I can get them tested but I don’t want to know. I’ll be pretty upset if I find out they have it.”
Ashley has rejected surgery to remove the tumours as there’s a chance this could make them come back even bigger.
She said: “They can turn into cancer so I have to keep an eye on them.
“I worry about the future but I try not to think about it because it’s depressing.”
