Maehlee Her has a disorder called eosinophilic esophagitis that causes her to get sick if she eats any kind of food. Her mother, Marci Flory, told The Topeka Capital-Journal white blood cells in her throat think food is a foreign invader and try to fight it off.

The only thing Maehlee has found that she can eat is squash. Otherwise the Eudora girl is forced to drink Elecare, an amino acid-based medical food that costs her family $600 to $900 a month because insurance won’t pay for it.

Flory says she has found only 40 people in Kansas with the disorder.