We thought our boy just had a birthmark – he ended up growing a 'turtle shell'

THE SUN

A BABY whose rare condition made it look like he had a shell on his back was nicknamed “little ninja turtle” by his parents.

One-year-old James McCallum, from Tampa, Florida, was born with a birth mark that turned into a large mass covering most of his back.

Ultrasounds at the Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater where he was born in August 2021 did not reveal anything, his mother Kaitlyn, 35, said.

But she started becoming concerned when the skin began scabbing and lumps appeared.

She and her husband Tim, 41, a medical staffing recruiter, waited two months for a diagnosis as the mass continued to grow across James’ entire back.

It was found to be a giant congenital melanocytic nevus, a benign, tumour-like growth caused by pigment cells developing incorrectly.

Kaitlyn said: “Before it was removed it had grown rapidly and had become like a turtle shell on his back.

“It got to the point that we had to sleep him on his side as he couldn’t put his head down flat because it was so bulky.

“It covered 75 per cent of his back at the start and it had started to get fattier and more lumpy — it seemed like it was growing.

“When he was two months old a paediatric dermatologist was able to tell us what it was and then began the process of having it removed.