The tot is suffering from a Benjamin Button-style disease – which is so rare she is the only person in the world to have it.
And the condition, which is a unique strand of mandibuloacral dysplasia, causes accelerated ageing of Isla’s cells giving her an appearance beyond her years.
Isla’s parents Stacey, 33, and Kyle, 36, from Leicester, are now sharing Isla’s story in a bid to raise awareness of the extremely rare condition.
Stacey said: “I just really want to raise awareness of the disease to help Isla and other children that might have it in the future.”
Isla’s health issues first became apparent when she nearly suffocated after being born at 36 weeks at Leicester Royal Hospital weighing 5lbs 10oz, on February 2, 2017.
Stacey said: “Once she was born and cut off the umbilical cord she couldn’t keep her oxygen level above 60 per cent when it needed to be 90 per cent.
“The nurses were trying to keep her airways open for what felt like hours. We expected to be able to see her but she was taken to neo-natal intensive care.
“It was so traumatic and overwhelming both of us fell asleep and when we woke up she wasn’t there.
“We nearly lost her – she was fighting against everything they were trying to do.
“She was incubated for the first five days of her life and put in an induced coma, so we were unable to hold her.
“We didn’t let other daughter, who was five at the time, see her because we were protecting her.
“Nurses had to feed her because she was losing weight.”
After being born, Isla spent two weeks in intensive care before her parents could take her home.
However, things took a turn for the worse in a matter of days when Isla turned blue while Stacey was trying to feed her.
“At this point we were trying to bottle feed her through her nasal tube,” Stacey said.
“We had to ring an ambulance after six days because she started choking, spluttering and turning blue when we were bottle feeding her.
“One of us would do CPR while the other held the phone. It was awful for our daughter Paige to see.
It was so traumatic and overwhelming both of us fell asleep and when we woke up she wasn’t there
Stacey Kilpatrick
“In hospital they managed to clear her airways and she spent another two weeks there.
“It was 12 weeks before I had to take her in again when she had trouble breathing.”
At three months old, Isla had to be resuscitated once again after another emergency operation, and it was found her tongue was blocking her airway every time she became upset.
Following this, doctors decided to perform a series of tests on Isla in February 2017.
At first, medics were left baffled when tests results showed a mutation in her genes that had never been seen before.
And consultants even told Stacey and Kyle to “start Googling” as they could not tell them exactly what was wrong with their daughter.
Despite this, Isla was finally diagnosed with mandibuloacral dysplasia in October 2017, a condition that causes a variety of abnormalities involving bone development and skin colouring.
Stacey, who quit her job as a teaching assistant to become a full-time carer for Isla, said: “When we had the diagnosis the genetic consultant said Isla is the only one in the world to have this particular misspelling of the gene which causes the mutation.
“We were light-heartedly told to ‘get Googling’. Even with the rarest conditions there is a network of carriers, but we don’t even have that.
“They couldn’t tell us how she is going to progress. No one else has the mutation of the gene which causes this deficiency.
“There only appears to be seven examples ever in medical literature of mandibuloacral dysplasia – but none of them are this particular mutation.”
Stacey and Kyle now face a daily battle to care for Isla, who faces an uncertain future due to a heart condition and very narrow airways which causes breathing difficulties.
She has a 2.5mm tube down her throat called a tracheostomy and a gastrostomy to enable her to be fed high-calorie milk and small items of solid food.
Stacey and Kyle have also been told to expect to see accelerated aging of her cells giving her an appearance beyond her years.
Doctors couldn’t tell us how she is going to progress. No one else has the mutation of the gene which causes this deficiency
Stacey Kilpatrick
“Her symptoms are narrow airways; pale, thin skin and a small jaw which means her tongue is far back in her throat which can stop her breathing,” Stacey said.
“She is either cold or red-hot. If she becomes badly unwell her temperature can go up to 40 degrees.
“She sees about 12 consultants, has from one to six appointments a week and has a whole cabinet of medical records.”
Isla also still only weighs 15lbs and has only just started to crawl.
She can say very few words and her main form of communication is Makaton sign language.
Despite this, her parents say she is “very clever” and a happy little girl who enjoys nothing more than playing with her seven-year-old sister Paige.
Stacey added: “Isla makes herself understood and is very clever. She is very expressive and communicative with us and Paige.
“She can’t cry so when she sleeps she’s attached to a heart monitor and an alarm goes off when she wakes up. This means we can sleep at night.
“She has only just started crawling, which is late, because she’s very petite in all ways.
“But she can walk with the aid of frame, which gives her the freedom of a child to run away from us if she wants.”
Dad Kyle, a self-employed builder, added: “We’re told her condition isn’t life-limiting but we just don’t know for sure as her case is so unique.
“We have been left in the dark somewhat. We have been told its mandibuloacral dysplasia of which there is usually two types A or B.
What is mandibuloacral dysplasia?
Mandibuloacral dysplasia (MAD) is an extremely rare genetic disorder.
Affected individuals often develop skeletal abnormalities including underdevelopment of the jaw bone giving the appearance of a receding chin.
The collarbone may be underdeveloped or malformed giving the appearance of sloping shoulders.
Bone loss may occur at the ends of the finger and toes, giving them a rounded or stubby appearance.
Affected individuals may have “progeroid” features that give them a prematurely aged appearance.
Such features include a distinctive facial appearance, a mottled skin color, thin, sparse hair with patchy areas of hair loss, loss of eyebrows, malformation of the fingernails and toenails, and degeneration of the skin, especially the skin of the hands and feet.
The distinctive facial features associated with this disorder may include prominent eyes, pointed nose, small mouth, and a receding chin.
Affected individuals may also have a high-pitched voice.
Two types of mandibuloacral dysplasia have been identified, type A and type B.
Both types are inherited as autosomal recessive conditions.
Mandibuloacral dysplasia type A (MADA) is caused by mutations of the lamin A/C (LMNA) gene; mandibuloacral dysplasia type B (MADB) is caused by mutations of the zinc metalloproteinase (ZMPSTE24) gene.
Source: Rare Diseases
“But Isla doesn’t fall into either of these categories so we don’t entirely know where we stand. There’s not really any support available so we just take it day by day.
“We were told part of the condition could be rapid ageing of the cells, but we just don’t know yet whether that will happen as nobody can say for sure.
“She is extremely small and frail though, I joke and call her grandma. She really keeps us on our toes and she really is a character. We’re looking forward to Christmas.”
The family now use Rainbows Childrens’ hospice, based in Loughborough, where Isla can play with her sister Paige.
Kyle added: “It is just amazing being able to see Isla playing with her sister with her mum nearby.
“Paige loves swimming and we can only go at Rainbows. The garden is amazing and beautiful in the summer.
“I just really want to raise awareness of the disease to help Isla and other children that might have it in the future.”
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