Thirteen-year-old, Twinkle Dwivedi has a strange disorder which means she loses blood through her skin without being cut or scratched.
She has even undergone transfusions after pints of it seeped through her eyes, nose, hairline, neck and the soles of her feet. Sometimes her condition is so bad she wakes up with her entire body covered in dried blood.
Villagers near her home in Uttar Pradesh, India, believe she must be cursed and shout cruel things in the street. Her family have sought help from numerous doctors as well as preachers from many different religions without success.
"I am desperate to help my daughter," said her mother Nandani Diwedi, 42. “We are not superstitious people but we became so desperate, we've been to temples, mosques, churches and sufi saints, but nothing has cured her."
Indian medics now believe her condition is an extreme version of a rare blood platelet disorder for which they cannot find a cure. Her mother said: "I am very worried about her. She is very weak and pale from the blood loss. She is very isolated and depressed. She wants to get better so she can go back to school. I now believe doctors in India are incompetent. I don't think they can help her."
Her dad Aditya Kumar Diewdi, 47, a railway worker, said: "They told us they had never seen a case like this before. One doctor even accused us of making it up. Why on earth would we do that? She has already undergone several blood transfusions and it is feared she may one day lose too much blood too quickly.”
"When I bleed from the head, my head feels very heavy," says Twinkle. "When my eyes bleed they go really red and sore. It also hurts when I wash after bleeding."
Twinkle has thee older sisters who are also extremely concerned for her future.
Her eldest sister Parul, 21, who works in a Delhi call centre said: "We pray every day that the doctors will find a cure for my sister." Her mum added: "My family will do anything we can to help her be healthy again."
Don’t let a health condition make your life hell. Attend Tuesdays at 7.30pm (7am, 10am, 3pm) taking place at different UCKG HelpCentres in and around London. Even if doctors, specialists, counsellors, etc have said they can't find a cure, God can.
