A teenager who felt isolated as a child because of his severe eczema has written a book to raise awareness of the condition.

Aadam Elahi, 16, of Harvey Road in Leytonstone, was mocked by his classmates as a child at George Tomlinson Primary School because of his cracked and bleeding skin.

He was born with the condition but it worsened to the point where he was even admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for treatment.

Aadam’s classmates were scared to touch him and he had no close friends growing up, but the experience has inspired him to write ‘Itchy Witchy’, a book about a boy with eczema, to help children understand the condition.

The GCSE pupil said: “I had no-one I felt I could really talk to at school, it wasn’t bullying but I’d be ridiculed for what they called my old man hands. I felt very alone and abnormal.

“I’m trying to show people affected that they’re not alone and to show children what the condition is. We’re still human, it’s just people’s perception of you that can be the problem.”

He came up with the idea on a holiday to Egypt where the mummies in museums reminded him of the bandages his mother wrapped him in as a child to stop him scratching himself.

He wrote the story in one day, and it follows a young eczema sufferer called Josh who begins to itch badly after he stops moisturising his skin.

He is then sent home from school to bathe his skin despite wanting to learn about the Egyptians with the rest of the class.

But Josh then scares his sister, Linda, by covering himself with the bandages his mother wraps him in when Linda returns home from school.

Once it was finished, Aadam outlined his story on a website for young people to share ideas and Fixers, an organisation for 16-25 year olds to change the world they live in, got in touch with him and paired him up with book illustrator Kate Harrison.

Aadam said: “I’m really lucky, it feels great. I think what’s inspired me is the help from hospitals and support from teachers and nurses at schools who want children to read it.

“It’s a major issue that needs to be tackled.”

The teenager, who is currently studying for his GCSEs at Seven Kings High School in Ilford, has visited local schools about the book and hopes to get it out after summer, when he and Miss Harrison will work to complete the illustrations.

Fixers will pay for it to be published and plan to distribute it in schools and hospitals, while the National Eczema Society has approached Aadam to use it as part of their information packages to parents.