story boy who can't eat: Joshua, nine, could die if he eats or even SMELLS normal food \

boy who can't eat: Joshua, nine, could die if he eats or even SMELLS normal food story
Many pre-teen boys have an unimaginative diet, but for one young man a simplistic menu is not a matter of choice, but of life and death.

Nine-year-old Joshua from New York suffers from a rare disease called eosinophilic esophagitis which means that he is fatally allergic to nearly all foods.

Pizza, hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; any snack a normal nine-year-old might dream up is off the cards for Joshua, whose reactions can range from vomiting and diarrhoea to anaphylactic shock.