CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - A 13-year-old southeast Missouri girl is living with a rare genetic disorder that makes exposure to sunlight especially dangerous.
The Southeast Missourian (http://bit.ly/1IpVHk7) reports that Graycen Beardslee was diagnosed at age 2 with Xeroderma Pigmentosum, or XP, a disorder that disables her body from repairing skin damaged by ultraviolet rays.
Graycen doesn't let the disorder keep her down. She's active in rodeo with her horse, Red. She still manages to go outdoors, but must cover herself from head to toe, including wearing a hood that resembles a beekeeper mask.
Her mother, Kimberly Lambert-Beardslee, says Graycen knows she gets stares, but doesn't seem to mind.
Doctors tell the family that the diagnosis is "one in a million."