A teenage boy has been left in agony for three years - after a simple sprain during a PE lesson sparked chronic pain.
Alfie Walton, from Taunton, Somerset, never expected that tearing a ligament during a PE lesson in 2019 would leave him unable to move, eat or drink without help - and is now fundraising for treatment in the US.
The 15-year-old began to experience burning and stabbing sensations in his lower leg following a minor injury at school, which he describes as "torture."
Eventually he was diagnosed her with a rare condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, also known as Suicide Disease, due to the extreme pain being hard to live with.
The condition typically affects a limb, usually after trauma, injury or surgery, and sees the sufferer experience high-intensity neuropathic pain.
For Alfie, it means his entire body constantly hurts and even the slightest touch can be devastating. The once sporty 15-year-old can no longer use his legs due to the tenderness and has to be fed formula through a tube in his gut.
He told The Mirror: "I would wake up in the night and my lower leg felt like it was being burned and it was stabbing like someone was putting burning hot knives into my leg. It was just constant all day, every day and all I could think was this is torture. I'm living with torture."
During a normal day at school in the summer of 2019, Alfie was taking part in his physical education lesson when he tripped, fell, and sprained his ankle. After an x-ray doctors told him a ligament had been torn and the young boy would need to go to physiotherapy while it healed for a few months.
Instead of healing, Alfie's condition deteriorated and his pain got worse and worse until he was no longer able to stand, even with the help of crutches. His mum, Hannah, said: "Instead of getting better, you're expected to get steadily better - he was getting worse."
She added: "It's horrendous not knowing what to do or how to help. Seeing your child in that much pain, obviously as a mum, it's the worst thing ever."
Alfie's has allodynia with his CRPS, which means even a light touch on part of his skin leaves him in agony. Hannah shared how even simple things like getting caught in the rain torments her son just from droplets hitting his legs.
"I'm almost scared to be too near him in case I hurt him," his mum said. "If my jumper brushes his leg, it's agony. I'm terrified because I don't want to hurt him."
There is very little understanding of Alfie's condition and Hannah said it seems to just be "bad luck" with different people having different explanations for CRPS. The tough teenager said: "When I was given the diagnosis I just said to myself, 'Well no I'll be different. I'll be okay. If just work harder, things will get better'.
"And then it got to a point where I was trying to stand up and the pain was excruciating but my legs weren't functioning anymore and I was falling down and it hit me that this was a lot worse than I thought."
The family have started a GoFundMe to access revolutionary treatment in America which could completely remove any pain that Alfie feels. According to the website, the 'Vecttor' machine, created by Dr Rhodes, uses electro-stimulation "designed to stimulate the nerves to produce certain neuropeptides essential for optimal functioning of the body."
On the NHS there is currently no treatment for CRPS other than pain management and physical rehabilitation. The website advises that the majority of patients find their symptoms lessen over time but others experience pain forever - with no way of knowing who will heal and who will not.
While it is his legs where the pain began, Alfie's entire body is now susceptible to this extreme response. The 15-year-old cannot even eat or drink without being plunged into "excruciating pain" and he had to have a tube fitted into his jejunum so he could get nutrients without his stomach being impacted.
Hannah explained that even a small drink would make Alfie vomit "as if he's eaten or drank far more than a drop of water", although he regularly vomits up to eight times a day from the agony.
She added: "It's taken away everything. To not be able to walk is one thing and not be able to do sport that he loves so much. If you couldn't do that but you could still enjoy eating, you've got something, haven't you?
"But to then not be able to eat either - what sort of a life is that?"
Despite his condition, Alfie still tries to keep a somewhat normal life by attending school online for half an hour twice a week. He also spends time with his brother and sister or sits in the kitchen while mum cooks and says his family are his best friends.
The 15-year-old has lost all but two schoolfriends due to his illness but he is unable to spend much time with them. They mainly message each other when Alfie is up to is but he said that some days even this can be too much as the pain exhausts him.
When he was still in school, peers began to pick on Alfie and didn't believe that he was really injured. "At school I was I was picked on I was bullied for being disabled, for not being able to do things," explained Alfie.
"They'd take my crutches and run away, saying 'oh just walk to class because we know you can'. Which is understandable because if someone had a sprained ankle for seven months, you'd start to think that should be better by now.
"I thought the same thing. But it's really hard to understand it unless you're living it."
"I don't really see anyone," he added. "Ultimately my mom is my best friend so I'm doing okay. But to go from where I was before - I was doing after school activities and I had friends and sport clubs."
Heartbreakingly Alfie added: "Everything is a struggle and everything is painful. It's more existing than living."
The family are desperately trying to raise funds to access the Vecttor treatment in America but they are aware that Alfie's life may never be the same again.
Hannah said: "If he was pain free but had to live his life in a wheelchair then he could live a good life. And then we'd have to time then to work on his legs and try and get him mobile again. It's the pain, the pain stops everything. That's what makes everything so hard."
Ever determined Alfie shared: "The thought of not being pain anymore it makes me speechless every time I think about it. And everyone being so generous and donating money to help me have that chance also leaves me speechless.
"If I wasn't in pain anymore, I'd have a life again and that's just an incredible thought."
Anyone wanting to donate to the family's GoFundMe can do so here: Please help Alfie get treatment for CRPS
Support lines like Samaritans (116 123) are open 24/7.
