by The Baby Has Strawberry ᴍᴀʀᴋs – Strangers Had ᴛʀᴏʟʟs And The Rection’s Mother To Protect Her
In September last year, 29-year-old Lucy Tapley and her fiancé Tom welcomed their first child – a baby girl they named Lola. The tot was born with faint ᴍᴀʀᴋs on her cheek, which were initially thought to have been caused by labour, but when the infant was a few days old, more distinguishable ᴍᴀʀᴋs began to appear across her face and body.
Now six months old, it’s been confirmed that Lola has ʜᴀᴇᴍᴀɴɢɪᴏᴍᴀs, which are more commonly known as ‘strawberry ᴍᴀʀᴋs’. The ᴍᴀʀᴋs run under her chin and neck and have sᴡᴏʟʟᴇɴ like a non-ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀᴏᴜs ᴛᴜᴍᴏᴜʀ around her ear. Her parents, who live in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, have been documenting their journey as a family online and have found many parents with children who have the same condition. However, they were also sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ to have been sent a lot of ɴᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ online, with sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀs even accusing them of causing the ᴍᴀʀᴋs by hurting their daughter.
Lucy, who works as a part-time primary school teacher and beautician, recalls: “Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀs have sent ʜᴏʀʀɪʙʟᴇ comments and I was ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ by the ɴᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴠɪᴛʏ we received.
“People would ask ‘what’s that on her face?’ but others would say ‘what on ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ has happened to her? Poor baby must have been ʜɪᴛ ᴏʀ ᴀʙᴜsᴇᴅ. Because the ᴍᴀʀᴋs are red, people ᴡʀᴏɴɢʟʏ ᴀssᴜᴍᴇ she is bleeding from her mouth. People have said that it’s ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ on her face, that I should be ᴀʀʀᴇsᴛᴇᴅ because she has obviously been ʜɪᴛ.
She continued: “I nearly closed the page down due to ᴛʀᴏʟʟs but then I saw that I had encouraged other people set their own pages up and for every unnecessary comment, I would have a parent message me thanking me for being so open about my experience so far.”
Speaking about her daughter’s condition, the mum shared more information on what she’d learned so far, saying: “We were ᴛᴇʀʀɪFɪᴇᴅ when parts of her face became extremely red at just a couple of weeks old. The ᴍᴀʀᴋs became bigger and darker, developing from pink to crimson red. At six weeks old she developed a ʜᴜɢᴇ ʟᴜᴍᴘ.
“Doctors were ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇʀɴᴇᴅ by the size as it had sᴡᴏʟʟᴇɴ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ her ear so we spent eight days in hospital. Doctors believe [the ʜᴀᴇᴍᴀɴɢɪᴏᴍᴀs] will grow for up to a year and then gradually decrease and the colour should drain naturally on their own. She will be on ᴍᴇᴅɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ until she is two to try and shrink them. I am proud to raise ᴀᴡᴀʀᴇɴᴇss and I will never be ᴀsʜᴀᴍᴇᴅ to share photos of my beautiful and perfect little girl.”
