Girl grows back face after paracetamol nightmare

A Swedish teenager has grown back her entire face after she was struck down by a "one-in-a-million" allergic reaction to household paracetamol. Eva Uhlin was 15 when she was left unrecognisable after contracting Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, a rare skin condition that is potentially fatal.
 
Her nightmare began in September 2005 when she fell ill with a fever while on holiday in the Swedish countryside. She was advised to take a couple of paracetamol tablets, but the combination of the drug and her virus triggered a bizarre reaction.
 
The day after taking the paracetamol, Uhlin woke up to find blisters on her face and her body. She was admitted to the burns unit at the University Hospital of Linkoping.
 
Over the next few days she lost most of the surface of her face as her skin blistered and then turned into scabs. The skin on parts of her chest, arms, back and stomach also fell away. At one point the damage to her face was so bad her lips grew together as skin formed a scab over her mouth.
 
Four years later, Uhlin, now 19, has more or less recovered from the disease. She feels comfortable speaking publicly about her ordeal - which she describes as "like something out of a horror film" - and is happy to be photographed now that she has recovered her looks.
 
"When I looked in the mirror for the first time after it happened I didn't recognise myself," she said. "I was so ashamed of the way I looked. I hated anybody to see me."
 
During her first 48 hours in hospital, Uhlin was examined by 15 doctors, as medical staff tried to work out what was wrong with her. They eventually worked out that she had Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, also known as Lyell's syndrome, and that she should be treated just like a burns victim.
 
Professor Folke Sjvberg, one of the doctors who cared for Uhlin, said she had been lucky to recover from the condition, which he described as "very uncommon - it strikes only one in a million people". Despite being extremely rare, it is deadly and can kill 40 per cent of sufferers.
 
Uhlin spent almost two months in hospital, as Folke treated her condition just as he would a burn injury, using a combination of pain relief drugs and fluid replacement. "You just have to try and make the skin function properly again," he said.
 
His patient was able to leave hospital in October 2005 but has spent the past your years having regular check-ups as her skin has gradually healed. She still needs to take eye-drops twice a day and her skin remains sensitive to bright light. ·