Dublin girl with rare skin disease excited to go to secondary school

Casey Connors, 12, from Clondalkin, is getting help to brief her new teachers and classmates before she starts secondary school in the autumn

Casey Connors, 12, who lives in Clondalkin, has a daily battle with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (EB), caused by the absence of essential proteins that bind the skin layers together.

She goes through painful bandage changes that can last three hours at a time but which are needed to protect her skin, 70pc of which is covered in open wounds.

Now, she is preparing to face her next big challenge – the move from primary to secondary school later this year.

Ahead of Rare Disease Day on Friday, Debra, the national charity for EB, is highlighting how routine steps in life are huge leaps for people living with the painful condition.