A part-time dog walker has been left housebound after tick bites left him with a life threatening allergy to red meat.
Christopher Goldman suffers from alpha-gal syndrome, a tickborne illness that can cause anaphylaxis if he eats mammal meat such as beef, pork or lamb.
He believes any exposure, including airborne transmission, to any mammal by-product including wool, diary and leather will trigger a reaction.
Read more: What is alpha-gal and why does it cause an allergy to meat?
The 28-year-old now only wears vegan approved clothing and uses household products that are guaranteed animal free. This regime extends to everything he eats and includes all medicines.
He has to carry an epi-pen at all times, wears an emergency contact bracelet and lives in just three rooms in his home. Anything that he suspects might contain mammal products have been piled up in a room at the front of the house.
Christopher was bitten by the parasite in woods near his home in Woking in Surrey. He has since been bitten at least four times since December and has since suffered eight fainting episodes, including five on the same day.
The most serious episode was on 28 June.
The full-time business production manager, said: “I woke up with intense itching and I was very hot. I did not want to wake up my girlfriend so I went to the bathroom.
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“My skin was crimson red and I had hives all over my body. I noticed a strange sensation in my hands, my face and my tongue began to swell. As my throat began to constrict I stood up and felt a ‘wash’ down to my feet.”
Christopher has been forced to pile anything he believes contains mammal products into one room
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