A young man says he looks like a zombie after a rare flesh-eating condition left him covered in ulcers.
Steve Young, 32, was diagnosed with pyoderma gangrenosum in the summer after suffering from 22 painful sores and puss-filled boils across his face, chest and arms for 18 months.
He even had to quit his job as a carpenter because the condition became so crippling, and is dependent on a cocktail of drugs.
"It's completely ruined my life, I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I've said to myself that I look like a zombie," Steve said.
"I don't go out now, the weather is too cold and I can't chance it due to the risk of developing an infection.
"It's the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. The only way to describe it is that it's like someone sticking in knives at various points across your body continuously."
The man, from Honiton, Devon, spends 25 minutes every day dressing his wounds.
The condition can develop for no reason and results in boils and blisters developing into painful ulcers which ooze fluid across the body and can become dangerously infected.
Steve, who lives with his partner, added: "I need help washing and dressing, it's taken my independence away from me.
"If I go out people will just stare at me. Some people will come up and ask me 'what's wrong' but most just stare.
"I'm just trying to keep myself in a bubble and focus on getting better."
He's now appealing on GoFundMe for money to fund private treatment.
It would rid him of the boils, which he says are embarrassing.
"All I want is to live a normal life and to get back to work. For the condition to go away would be the world's best Christmas present. It would be a breath of fresh air," he continued.
To donate to Steve's appeal, click here .
