14 DAY TRIAL // The first time they see 18-year-old Hunter Steinitz, people assume that the girl has been involved in a fire. Her skin is abnormally thick and her body is covered in numerous dry patches so, these assumptions are not entirely out of place.
However, Hunter is not a burns victim. The girl is only suffering from a rare genetic disorder that has left her looking like one.
Specialists say that this teenager's condition is known to the scientific community as harlequin ichthyosis.
It boils down to the fact that the girl's skin does not contain any fatty cells that would keep it moist and smooth.
“My skin doesn't contain any of the fatty moisture everyone else has between their skin cells, like mortar between bricks in houses. All I have is the bricks,” Hunter herself explains, as cited by Daily Mail.
Because it lacks these fatty reserves, the girl's skin is severely dehydrated.
Therefore, the teenager risks being affected by bacteria and contaminants that are commonly found in the environment and that other people's bodies have no issue dealing with.
Additionally, the condition has left the girl unable to sweat and grow hair. She cannot grow hair because her hair follicles are blocked by skin, specialists explain.
This means that the 18-year-old girl has no choice except wear a wig most of the time.
To make matters even worse, her skin is so dried that the girl has trouble closing her eyes and sometimes finds that she has to keep them wide open for several hours, the same source informs us.
Despite being dealt this very bad hand, Hunter has figured out a way to overcome her condition and see it less like a handicap and more like an opportunity to prove what she's made of.
“I realized I'd be a totally different person without it. My family would be different people. I wouldn't have the same friends - the really special ones who stuck by me through everything. I owe everything about my life to the disorder,” the girl argues.
This coming September, Hunter is set to go to university. Her plans for the future include becoming a spokesperson for people suffering from the same condition.