Marine engineer is forced to live like a vampire because of rare illness

A 'real life vampire' is forced to wear a wetsuit, gloves, boots and a mask to the beach due to his rare and severe allergy to sunlight.

Sam Phelps, 27, a marine engineer, from Bristol, breaks out in a painful, swollen rash if he does not completely cover his skin on sunny days - even in winter.

His condition, known as erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), causes his skin to burn when exposed to UV light.

Whenever Mr Phelps goes out in the sunshine, any exposed skin swells and turns purple, while an excruciating burning pain sweeps through his body. 

He said: 'It feels like someone is holding a lighter to my skin, like it's burning and on fire. 

'I've had issues before when my face is covered, with security guards thinking I'm some kind of criminal.' 

'I am like a vampire'   

Mr Phelps said: 'I am like a vampire. My mates even tease me, calling me a vampire, because they know I find it hard to go out when it's hot.

'Calling me that makes it easier to understand my condition. Then people know simply why I can't go out in the sun.' 

He is forced to wear gloves, trousers, a long-sleeved top and a mask covering most of his face every time the sun comes out - even in winter.

He said: 'It feels like someone is holding a lighter to my skin, like it's burning and on fire.

'I have to constantly try and keep it cool and take painkillers.'  

For EPP sufferers, simple tasks such as driving to work or spending a day out with friends, require a careful study of the weather forecast, to enable them to plan ahead.

Yet despite the limitations caused by the condition, Mr Phelps is determined not to let it hold him back.

He said: 'If someone thinks I look like an idiot, all wrapped up in the middle of summer, I don't care.

'If I don't cover up then I can't enjoy time out with my friends and my girlfriend.

'If it's hot, I always have to take extra precautions, so I can at least try and live a normal life.

'But now I think "if I get ill, I get ill". I take more risks than I should by going outside when it's sunny.'

Mr Phelps was diagnosed with EPP six years ago after being hospitalised on a family holiday to Cornwall.

He said: 'My hands and face started to blow up. Within a couple of hours, I felt and looked so awful that my dad took me to the nearby Falmouth Community Hospital, where they diagnosed me with erythropoietic protoporphyria, dubbed "the vampire disease".'  

Mr Phelps believes he has suffered with EPP since he was very young, despite only being diagnosed at 21.

He said: 'I'd had the reaction to sunlight since I was three years old, but it was never diagnosed.

'My parents are a big fan of hot holidays, but throughout my childhood and teenage years, that never went down too well with me.

'But when my skin reacted, we always thought it was a reaction to something in the atmosphere or something I had eaten.'

Mistaken for a criminal  

His strange attire has, on occasion, caused strangers to do a double take.

Mr Phelps said: 'Wearing the clothes I need to cover up, when I'm out in public, does make people look at me differently.

'I've had issues before when my face is covered, with security guards thinking I'm some kind of criminal.

'If I go into a shop now, I make sure I take my face mask and gloves off.' 

Thankfully, his lunchtime supervisor girlfriend Amy Dutch, 22, who he met on a dating website last September, does not mind his strange clothing or having to hunt for shady spots on days out. S

She also shrugs off any funny looks they receive from strangers.

Ms Dutch said: 'I didn't realise EPP was a real condition, I thought it was something made up for vampire books.

'But it doesn't stop us having a good time, it just means we have to plan more ahead and find shady places to sit.'

'I am determined not to let this hold me back'

Since his diagnosis, Mr Phelps had light treatment sessions three times a week for eight weeks every summer to help his skin to acclimatise to the light.

Although the treatment does not cure the reaction, it does make the symptoms less painful.

Mr Phelps said: 'The treatment is a real pain to do, but I am determined now to not let this hold me back.

'This summer I'm going to Torquay with the lads and even though I know it will be sunny, I'm determined to go, have fun even if I am all covered up.' 

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