Article content

Until you notice the bandages covering the majority of 11-month-old Leo Leptich’s body, it would be easy to think he is a lot like other babies his age as he plays with various brightly coloured toys while watching Sesame Street in the family living room.

The bandages tell a different story. They are there to protect his incredibly fragile skin — caused by a rare, incurable genetic condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), in which the proteins that anchor the outer layer of skin to the layer underneath are missing, causing the upper layer to blister and even peel off with even the slightest amount of friction.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'It's a lot of trial and error': Saskatoon mom shares what it's like to care for a child with Epidermolysis Bullosa Back to video

It also leads to a higher risk of developing skin cancer and can cut the patient’s life expectancy significantly.

Photo by Liam Richards / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Leo’s mother Crystal Leptich had never heard of it before she was rushed into an emergency C-section to deliver Leo.

“As soon as they pulled him out the first thing they said was, ‘We don’t know what’s wrong with him,’ ” she remembers. “They were talking about how they had never seen anything like this before and when they brought him over, we could see that his feet were purple and all the skin had been rubbed off.”