My baby’s head-to-toe rash bleeds and looks like chemical burns – cruel strangers are vile and kids won’t play with him

A TOT'S full-body eczema is so extreme he writhes around on the floor - and leaves strangers staring at what looks like "chemical burns".

Alana Spurgeon's one-year-old son Koen O'Shaughnessy has always had eczema but in January 2025 it began flaring up and now "completely covers" his body apart from his hands.

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The 32-year-old says her child scratches himself on furniture, toys and the carpet until he bleeds trying to relieve the constant itchiness from his "red and very angry-looking" skin.

It has forced the mum to avoid taking her son to places because of the "judgemental" stares and comments about Koen's appearance - and some children have even refused to play with him.

After taking him to the GP every week for two months in January, Koen was hospitalised for a week in February after his face and eyes became particularly swollen and he was given IV antibiotics.

Doctors remain unsure what is triggering the eczema which has left the parent feeling 'heartbroken' over what else to do for her son.

Taking to TikTok, the mum-of-three shared a video of her son's eczema journey captioned 'please be kind', which has since gone viral with more than 1.7 million views.

In the clip you can see the baby lying on his back and frantically rubbing himself against the floor to try and scratch an itch.

After setting up a GoFundMe page, the stay-at-home-mum is hoping to be able to pay for private medical care to help her son.

She now wants to spread more awareness about living with eczema and urges people to 'push for' the correct care.

An NHS spokesperson said new reforms are committed to reducing waiting lists to free up capacity for patients needing face-to-face appointments.

Alana, who lives in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said: "It's heartbreaking and I cannot tell you how many times I've cried over it. It's hard because you're trying your best and you feel like your best is not enough. It's been absolutely awful.

"His whole body is completely covered and the only place that isn't is his hands. It's very red and very angry-looking and it's risen. It always looks very inflamed. A lot of people have referred to it as looking like chemical burns.

"I feel like I avoid taking him places because of the comments and the stares. There's a lot of judgement out there. I wouldn't mind if people ask or are curious but everything is just so judgemental and it's hard.

"It's mainly people saying 'oh my god did you see that baby's face? What's wrong with that baby?'

"I understand it looks like he has burns as that's how severe it is but just show a bit of kindness and sympathy. I feel like people look at me as if to say 'what have you done to that child'.

"Whenever we do a school run a lot of the other children do look and point and say 'look at that baby's face'. [Children] tend to avoid him or look at him like there's something wrong with him.

"I have two other sons and they act as if there's nothing even on him. They'll hug him and kiss him all over. They're not fazed by it at all."

I feel like people look at me as if to say 'what have you done to that child'

Alana Spurgeon

After Koen's eczema began to flare up on his forehead, arms and legs in January 2025 the mum visited the GP every week for two months and was just given steroid creams.

As it continued to worsen the baby was hospitalised for a week in February 2025 where he was put on IV antibiotics and had blood tests which didn't reveal any allergies.

A dermatologist prescribed Koen with antibiotics which helped reduce the swelling, however, his eczema gradually worsened again.

Alana said: "It was just so out of control and I was at my wits end so I thought something really needed to be done and I took it upon myself to go up there.

"I feel like it's very much let's mask the issue rather than figuring out what the cause is. They did blood tests and all of that came back clear. The only thing with that is they only show instant reaction allergies so we still don't have a definite answer.

"[The dermatologist] gave us a whole regime of different creams to use. When we left the hospital his skin had improved from what it was because his face had swollen and his eyes had swollen but it started to gradually get worse again."

His itchiness just doesn't seem to stop. He rubs anywhere he can to itch himself. He will rub himself on me, the carpet and up and down furniture

Alana Spurgeon

The mum admitted she recently bought her son scratch sleeves to try and prevent his constant scratching which causes him to bleed.

Alana said: "His itchiness just doesn't seem to stop. He rubs anywhere he can to itch himself. He will rub himself on me, the carpet and up and down furniture.

"He can't sleep and he's literally up all night. He'll grab at his skin until it bleeds. The other night I put a scratch sleeve on him under his clothes and then a sleeping bag.

"In the morning I saw he had managed to take all of that off and he was just sitting scratching his skin and covered in blood from head to toe.

"He was sitting covered in blood from head to toe. It gives him a bit of a boost because he finally gets that scratch but the damage he does to his skin is awful. It's very hard day to day. I don't know how he deals with it as well as he does."

The tot has now been referred to Great Ormond Street hospital but Alana has decided to book a private paediatric dermatologist to avoid a long wait time.

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She has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for private medical care to try and help her son live a better quality of life.

Alana said: "It's a shame that you have to go down the private route to be taken seriously. I was never in a position to do that and it's thanks to the GoFundMe that I can.

"I just can't see him suffering like that anymore. His whole daily life is just so disturbed. Even when the sun's out I can't have him in a shorts and T-shirt because any bit of skin that's out he'll scratch it until it bleeds.

"It's just been going on for so long and he deserves so much better. The amount of things that are now achievable thanks to people donating and helping is unbelievable."

The parent wants to help to spread awareness about living with eczema and urges people to 'trust their gut' and do research.

Alana said: "I don't feel like there's enough awareness out there for eczema. I wasn't aware how bad and debilitating it could be until Koen got it so bad.

"I just want people to know they're not alone, there are people out there. If they feel like they need to go down a certain route, you need to push for it. Just trust your gut and do your own research."

An NHS spokesperson said: "Thanks to the efforts of staff, more dermatology patients are being seen sooner but we know there is still more to do to continue this progress.

"Our new elective reform plan is committed to reducing waiting lists and making better use of technology - freeing up more capacity for patients that need to be seen face-to-face, such as those with inflammatory skin conditions."

To visit the GoFundMe page, click here.