Listening Project
Conversation between mother and daughter, Tracey and Alice, about Alice's rare form of skin cancer that means she has to avoid exposure to sunlight.
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Type
sound
Duration
00:36:46
Shelf mark
C1500/0235
Recording date
2012-11-06
Is part of (Collection)
The Listening Project
Recording locations
BBC Radio Cumbria, Carlisle
Interviewees
Tyson, Tracey, 1965- (female), Tyson, Alice, 2004- (female, Schoolgirl)
Producers
BBC Radio Cumbria
Recordist
Carter, Andrew
Abstract
Alice is eight years old and when she was three she was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer, Xeroderma Pigmentosum or XP, which means that she has to avoid exposure to sunlight and certain artificial light sources that emit UV. Consequently she has to wear a hat with a visor and gloves when she's outdoors and she cannot sit near windows unless they're covered with a special film to cut out UV light. She has an annual check up at St Thomas' Hospital in London and currently there are approximately 50 people with the condition in the UK. It's genetic and as luck would have it her mum and dad both had a faulty gene but there was a one in four chance their child would be born with the condition. It means she's unlikely to pass it on if she has children as her partner would have to have the faulty gene as well. The only time she's played on the beach was at Morecambe this year when she built sandcastles in the dark. Alice gets very upset when strangers point at her hat and gloves and visor and hot weather is a nightmare as she can't take her clothes off. She is able to go swimming in the local pool after protective film was put up on the windows. She finds it hard to ride a bike as she has to wear a hat and visor which affect her balance. Her mum wants her to have children but worries about the wedding having to be held at night. Alice wishes her parents had been normal and she could do the things that normal children do.
Description
The Listening Project conversations collectively form a picture of our lives and relationships today. Recordings were made by BBC producers of people sharing an intimate conversation, lasting up to an hour and on a topic of the speakers' choice.
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