Boy, 7, battling through rare skin conditions that prevent him from closing his eyes

LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) - We can sometimes take the little things for granted in life but for a little boy in Las Vegas, some of those more simpler things can be a challenge.

Carter is 7 years old and is your average child, but he is dealing with a couple of rare skin conditions that he was born with.

“My skin was hurting super bad when I woke up,” he said.

Carter’s family says he was born with two rare skin conditions called lamellar ichthyosis and ectropion. He has also been diagnosed with autism.

“His body overproduces skin at a rapid rate but his skin cell turnover isn’t up to par to release the dead skin cells,” Carter’s mother Shai Bresee said.

Carter’s skin condition is far beyond just severe dry skin. His mom said she has to moisturize him up to seven times a day with special products.

“We have to be very careful because we can cause more damage than good over-exfoliating,” Bresee said.

Even if his skin is soothed, Carter has another challenge that his mom can’t make better.

“His skin is so dry and tight that it pulls his upper lids basically flat,” Bresee said.

Carter has not been able to close his eyelids since he was born. He has to sleep with his eyes open.

“Why does such a great kid have to go through all of these everyday struggles just to experience these normal day-to-day things,” Bresee said.

This summer Carter will get skin graft surgery on his eyelids so he can hopefully close them for the very first time.

“I’m going through a lot. It hurts, but I have to go through it until I get surgery and then it won’t really hurt anymore.” Carter said.

For it to not hurt anymore, the family will have to travel to San Diego for surgery, but it will get costly for the family which is why they are asking for help through a GoFundMe account.

“He will struggle no matter what we do so all we can do is help him struggle with fewer things,” Bresee said.

Even through the pain, Carter says he still likes to play video games and watch the Vegas Golden Knights.

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