Girl’s Attempt to Fake the Chickenpox Backfires, Goes to School Anyway

A doctor draws medicine into a syringe. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/GettyImages

A young girl in the United Kingdom attempted to fake having chickenpox by using a permanent marker, but it got her in trouble.

Lily Schooley, who was fearful of a spelling test, used a permanent red marker to falsify the fake illness. She asked her parents to borrow the marker before she appeared 10 minutes later with a rash, reported The Mirror.

Charlotte, her mother, said she would have to go to the doctor, and the girl ran back upstairs to clean off the red ink.

“She was deadly serious about it until we said ‘Oh gosh, it’s come on so quickly in 10 minutes. We’re going to have to see the doctor,” she told the Mirror. “She quickly disappeared and we went upstairs to find her trying to rub them off with a flannel.”

When she first went upstairs, her parents came into her room and apparently knew she was faking it.

“We turned the light on and she was absolutely covered in it,” her mother told the Daily Mail. “Me and my husband were aching with laughter, trying not to let on that we knew.”

But Schooley learned that the girl was “on the bathroom floor drawing dots on herself.”

But when they tried to scrub them off, they ran into trouble. “We used body wash, soap, hot water, baby oil, alcohol wipes. I think it was hairspray in the end that got it off—after four days,” her mother said.

“She said ‘I can’t go to school mummy because everyone will laugh,’” Schooley told the Mirror.

The parents sent her to school the next day, saying she wasn’t contagious but had tried to fake the illness.

The teachers “thought it was hilarious,” adding that “this happened on a Thursday night so she only had one day [in school with the spots].”

With the help of hairspray, the parents removed the red ink, according to the report.

“The house is always full of laughter with Lily,” Charlotte told the paper. “She is very witty.”

Her mother said the girl learned of the trick after watching a YouTube video, according to the Daily Mail.

Don’t Give Ibuprofen or Aspirin to Child with Chickenpox

Left: Chicken pox. (Public Domain); Right: Ibuprofen - CT akut 400mg. CT Arzneimittel GmbH/CC BY-ND 2.0

British Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (pdf) states that “it is advisable to avoid Ibuprofen Oral Suspension in case of varicella (chickenpox)” because its “contributing role” to worsening the skin infections “cannot be ruled out.”

The British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology said that “Ibuprofen should be stopped if your child develops chicken pox.”

The FDA, however, does warn to not give aspirin to children with chicken pox, as that could lead to the Reye’s syndrome, a life-threatening brain disease.

A stock photo of aspirin Wikimedia Commons

According to WebMD, chickenpox usually lasts about five to 10 days.

It also recommends not to scratch the rash because it puts the child at risk of a bacterial infection.

“Drink lots of fluids to help your body rid itself of the virus faster. It’ll also keep you from getting dehydrated. Choose water over sugary drinks or sodas, especially if you or your child has chickenpox in the mouth. Sugar-free popsicles are a good choice, too. Avoid hard, spicy, or salty foods that can make your mouth sore,” the site also says.