I just want to be normal and better again to get back to school with all my friends

Michelle Jessett

She has been affected by the condition ever since her school bus was caught in a toxic cloud following a chemical lorry fire in January.

Simon Hodder, a consultant at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, said surgery may be the only way doctors can identify the cause of the teenager's continuing illness.

Michelle's mother Samantha Jessett said: "Mr Hodder sat us down as a family and told us he had no idea what is happening - I appreciated his honesty.

"A shadow has shown up in facial tissue on scans, and Michelle will be operated on next week for this to be explored."

Baffling blisters

Michelle has found she can wash in ordinary water, but even rain water can cause burns in the same place as the original blisters on her face.

Doctors have been so baffled they have filmed Michelle to try to get more evidence.

Doctors have documented their treatment

They believe It could be haemangioma - bleeding under the skin - caused by a reaction to the tears.

Mrs Jessett said: "The condition seemed to have settled down in the last month, but ugly bruising returned this week.

"We still do not seem to be anywhere nearer discovering what is making Michelle so ill."

Michelle said: "I have a lot of pain because of the condition and all of the tests they have done on me in hospital.

"I just want to be normal and better again to get back to school with all my friends."

Acid cloud

Dozens of children complained of puffy, redenning skin and blister burns on their faces and hands after the chemical incident in January.

A lorry carrying 6,400 litres of ferric chloride - used to treat drinking water - crashed on the busy A465 Resolven-Aberdulais road.

The lorry fire sent a toxic cloud in to the air

A fire in the lorry created a massive cloud of hydrochloric acid which soared 2,000ft into the air east of Neath.

Pupils from Llangatwg Comprehensive School leaned out of their passing school bus window to watch the spectacle and the gutted lorry.

Twenty firefighters controlled the blaze as police officers with loudspeakers advised residents to keep windows and doors shut.

Police closed surrounding roads, but the bus was standing in the fire zone for around 20 minutes as the toxic cloud billowed into the air.

Nine pupils were taken to hospital following the incident, and most of them have seen their blisters clear up.

But Michelle is the only one still suffering chronic, stinging pains brought on by tears.

Sources on haemangioma say the condition is an overgrowth of blood vessels in the skin.

Types of the condition include capillary haemangioma, caused by dilated capillaries.