Teen deathly allergic to cold can’t be outside in less than 24C weather

A teenager is so allergic to cold temperatures that he can’t be outside for more than 15 minutes without suffering a reaction.

A UK teen is so deathly allergic to cold temperatures that he can’t be outside for more than 15 minutes, even in warm weather, without his skin breaking out into itchy red rashes.

Calum Courtney, 14, from Basildon, Essex, suffers from cold urticaria, a rare skin reaction to even mild cold in which patients develop hives, swelling and even anaphylactic shock, the New York Post reports.

“He can’t be outside for long if it’s cold,” mum Tupney Courtney, 38, told Kennedy News & Media. “He goes out and has to keep coming back in.”

Calum erupts into hives whenever the temperature drops to below 24C, or when he isn’t covered by a blanket while he’s sleeping.

“He breaks out on whatever part of the body is cold,” Ms Courtney said.

The reaction happens after just 15 minutes, even if Calum wears three layers of clothing.

“It starts off like little red dots. It looks like chickenpox. Then they get bigger and join together,” Ms Courtney said, adding that it feels “pinchy” like “stinging nettles, then it gets really itchy”.

A reaction on Calum’s arm. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

Calum can’t be outside for long when it’s cold. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

And the complications aren’t just cosmetic. If Calum goes swimming, he goes “bright red and says it feels like it’s burning,” or “like he’s going to pass out”. Ms Courtney believes these are the early stages of anaphylactic shock. She then has to warm her son up immediately with hot drinks – a process that takes around 20 minutes to work.

At home, Calum’s parents have the heat high all day. They drive their son to and from school each day and have to go all the way up to the gate if it’s raining to prevent his clothes from getting wet. He also always has to wear a tracksuit to protect his skin.

“You don’t know what reaction he could have. He could have anaphylactic shock. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility; even though he hasn’t, it could happen at any point,” Ms Courtney said.

Calum exhibited signs of cold urticaria at just four years old when he developed welts from “head to toe” while playing outside at his aunt’s wedding.

Initially thinking it was a pollen allergy, his parents gave him an antihistamine and brought him indoors – which seemed to improve his condition.

Calum has a rare condition called cold urticaria. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

But when the symptoms hit with a vengeance through winter, they realised something else was going on.

“He used to play football at school on a Friday. As it got colder, he’d be wearing a tracksuit and Under Armour [heat apparel] and he would still be smothered in lumps all over him,” Ms Courtney said.

“It was happening all the time and we started to realise that if his arm was out of the quilt, that would come up in hives, but the rest of him wouldn’t, so we started to see it was the cold.”

When doctors diagnosed the condition, they didn’t have much else to suggest other than the preventive measures the family was already taking.

Doctors have few suggestions other than lifestyle changes to manage the condition. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

Now, the Courtneys have to “think of everything” to help manage their son’s urticaria.

“If he hurts himself, he can’t have a cold compress,” Ms Courtney said. “He banged his hand at school and they said he needed to go to hospital because his hand had doubled in size. But when I got there, he had a cold compress on it, so as soon as I warmed it up, it went down.”

Calum also had to quit playing football because his face swells up if he’s outside for a prolonged period of time.

Even watching football is a problem.

“He likes to watch his brother play football and we take him tracksuits, hot water bottles, blankets, but he has to go and get in the car because his nose swells up and his eyes get further apart,” she said.

While planning an upcoming holiday to Turkey – the hottest country the family could find – they had to “book a hotel with an indoor, heated swimming pool”.

Calum is 14 years old. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

“It affects so much. When kids want to go ice skating, when kids want to go swimming, anywhere, to the beach, he can’t go because it’s too risky,” Ms Courtney said. “We went to swim with dolphins in Florida and he couldn’t stay in the water.”

And being such a rare condition, the family also must battle the lack of knowledge people have about it.

“It’s a constant battle of trying to prove it to people,” Ms Courtney said. “People’s first reaction is, ‘Oh yes, I’m allergic to the cold too.

“They think he’s saying he doesn’t like the cold. It’s so frustrating that no one believes him.”

The condition affects every aspect of Calum’s life. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

The family has not been able to find a CU specialist. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

Finding proper CU specialists, or even effective treatments, has also proven to be an uphill battle.

“I want to find a doctor that specialises in CU, which I can’t seem to find,” Ms Courtney said. “We find allergy doctors and dermatologists, but no one specialising in that specific allergy.”

Calum’s mum simply wants him to be able to play outside. Picture: Kennedy News and Media

Currently, while there is no cure-all treatment for the condition, doctors say people can mitigate the symptoms with over-the-counter antihistamines.

Ms Courtney ultimately hopes to get her son healed enough to where he can play outside “without looking like he’s got a disease”.

This story first appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission