LITTLE Sam McCreadie suffers from a rare allergy-like illness that means even snow landing on his skin or a cuddle from his mum can cause a potentially deadly reaction.

The brave two-year-old was born with mastocytosis, which causes agonising blisters that could cause his body to go into life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

As a result, his mum Jennifer, 26, has to carry a medical bag containing a syringe of adrenalin, called an EpiPen, with her at all times.

Sam also has a special T-shirt that reads “Do not feed, I have allergies” to stop anyone giving him unwanted treats.

Jennifer, from Invergordon, Ross-shire, explained: “He has lots of triggers – heat, stress, certain foods, cleaning products, the cold.

“Before he started his medication to stabilise it in September, he couldn’t even have a banana.

“He basically ate apples, a couple of veg and lean beef – and that was it.”

The toddler is just one in half a million people who suffer from the condition, which has left him with 60 permanent lesions on his head, face, arms, legs, back and waist. Mastocytosis affects the body’s mast cells, which help to fight infection, and are normally found in the skin, stomach and airways.

As Sam has too many of these cells, when certain things touch them, they release a chemical called histamine into his body, turning the lesions into unbearable red, itchy hives, similar to a nettle sting.

When he scratches them or gets stressed, it makes them worse, increasing the risk of an anaphylactic shock.

The condition is so rare, however, it took Jennifer six months to convince doctors there was something wrong with her son. They put his constant screaming down to everything from eczema to an ear infection – and one even accused her of being a paranoid mother.

Now Jennifer and husband, Peter, 32, have pledged to raise £10,000 for the UK Mastocytosis Support Group to fund further research into the illness.

The charity helped find the right cocktail of drugs to help control Sam’s condition.

New hive-lie lesions would regularly appear all over Sam's body due to the rare-condition

But he still suffers reactions almost daily as well as more dangerous attacks at least once a fortnight, where his tongue and throat swell up, leaving him fighting for breath.

Jennifer said: “It used to be scary and, to anyone watching, it probably would be.

“But we’re used to it now. We just go into auto-pilot and go through the drill.”

Sam can’t wear hats or tight waistbands as the friction of the material against his skin can cause a reaction.

Even taking a cuddly teddy to bed is out of the question.

Instead, he takes a plastic action figure.

Jennifer said: “We also have to be careful when we are ­play-fighting with Sam, having a cuddle on the sofa or when he is in his buggy. Basically, too much of anything can trigger an episode.”

When Sam was born, he only had one lesion on his body but they have continued to grow in number and he gets a new one at least every two months.

And Jennifer worries that Sam will be bullied by his appearance as he grows up.

Despite bhis rare condition, Sam and his family don't let it take over their lives

She said: “People look at Sam because he can’t wear a lot of clothes, as heat can set off a skin reaction.

“They think he’s not dressed properly because he’s only got a T-shirt on and it’s freezing.

“I can cope with that. We just want people to educate their children so they know he is not contagious, he is normal and they can still play with him.”

And to raise awareness, Jennifer has organised a series of fundraising events for the UK Mastocytosis Support Group from now until June, when she plans to have her head shaved for the cause.

She added: “If I could have one wish it would be to take his condition away.

“I would love nothing more than for him to be the same as everyone else.”

* To donate to the family’s fundraising appeal, visit

For details on the condition, go to