She was diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria, a disease so rare that barely 100 cases have been documented worldwide.
If she drinks water, she vomits and her heart races. If she cries, her own tears burn her skin. Rain, she says, feels like acid.
She can’t even exercise: sweat leaves painful marks on her body, and after every shower she has to dry herself immediately to prevent a reaction.
Her father, Michael Beck, an assistant principal at a high school, supports her through treatment with an allergist who still has no definitive answers.
Science has found no cure, only ways to cope with it. And in the meantime, Abigail is learning to live while avoiding something the rest of us don’t even think twice about touching.