Doctors are completely baffled by an extremely rare skin condition that is causing 28 year old Shanya A. Isom to grow nails in her follicles instead of hair. The criminal justice student was in her first year of university when her ordeal started, and her family has racked up medical bills totalling an eye watering $250,000 in attempts to cure her illness. This is because her state insurance plan does not cover her for the care she receives from a special unit in Baltimore.
Her nightmare started in 2009 when she had an asthma attack and was treated with steroids. This medication caused her to have an allergic reaction and develop bumps and scabs on her body. She has since struggled to walk and carry out many tasks that once seemed trivial. It was almost two years later that doctors realised that the bumps were actually human nails growing from her skin. Any place where hair once grew now has nails growing.
The treatment she has received since being afflicted with this illness has helped improve her quality of life slightly but doctors are a long way off establishing what is causing her problems. She is currently the only known person to suffer from this in the world. Shanya has since set up the S.A.I. Foundation in order to help cover the medical bills and even help anyone else who may suffer from this condition in the future. She feels that going through this will be worth it if she can help others in the future.
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