Please Help Layla Rose's Rare Skin Condition.

This is a speech Layla wrote to compete in an inter school speech competition in Golden Bay.

My name is Layla and I am Year 4 at Motupipi School.

Icthyosis.

Do you know what this word means? It is a really rare skin condition and you say it like this Ick - thee - o - sis. Sometimes it's a really hard word to say. It is so rare I have never met another person with the same skin as me.

Do you know how I got this skin? Well, I was born with it. 4-5 times a day I have to put cream on, even at school, to keep my skin soft and bendy and to stop it cracking. The worst part is that in winter at school, I have to have the cream put on by really cold hands.

The skin on my feet is really slippery and when I jump on my trampoline, sometimes I slip and slide all over the place.

Some people stare at me and some ask me if I'm sunburnt in the middle of winter!!

When I fall over I have super powers, because my skin grows back faster than anybody else's skin. I have super skin which grows about 6 times faster than anyone else's. Because of my super skin, I shed more skin and larger pieces. Everybody's skin grows every day and everybody sheds skin all through the day and night. Actually, most dust is tiny bits of skin.

My skin condition doesn't stop me doing ANYTHING!! I go rollerblading. I can swim and dive, ride a scooter and bike. I can run really fast and this year in the Motupipi school triathlon, I got second and won the silver medal. This year I played miniball, soccer and hockey in the school team. I act in the drama club and love to sing.

Wow! I have such a busy life. I am literally jumping out of my skin!