How you can help this young Derbyshire boy who has an incredibly rare and tragic illness
Eleven-year-old Thomas Gascoyne has been fighting a battle with an undiagnosed regressive condition since the age of six.
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Hide AdAlthough Thomas does not have an official diagnosis, his neurologist believes with 99 per cent certainty that he has a rare variant of Batten Disease, which affects the nervous system. Confirmation of this is expected in the coming months.
His parents, Claire and Mark Gascoyne, have now set up this online page to raise money in order to carry out improvements to their home in Coal Aston so Thomas can be included more in everyday family life.
Generous folk have so far donated nearly £20,500 to the cause.
Claire, 45, said: “Our lovely smiley son has gradually faded away to a boy who can’t talk, walk or sit unaided.
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Hide Ad“Over the past year he has been in and out of hospital - even on Christmas Day.”
Claire told how her ‘beautiful’ boy was born in March 2008.
She added: “Everything was normal when he was baby and toddler.
“As he developed he struggled with his speech and language and he had a few autistic traits.
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Hide Ad“He was a shy boy but once he was used to you and his surroundings his personality came out.
“At nursery he loved counting and space.
“When he was four he could count to 30, knew all the planets and could recognise musical instruments by sight and sound.
“When he was six he nearly got diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder but the occupational therapist at the time said there was something not quite right with his core strength and his spacial awareness.
“From then he slowly started to regress.
“He eventually stopped walking then stopped crawling and now he is unable to talk and unable sit unaided.”
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Hide AdClaire, who has another son, eight-year-old Alexander, added that Thomas has suffered from many seizures since 2015.
Over three years ago, the family applied for a grant which was later approved so they could make adaptions to their home - but this only covered basic alterations.
They now want to make extensive changes so Thomas can have access to the ground floor of his home and garden, enabling him to spend more time with family and friends.
The money raised from the online page will help them do this.
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Hide AdSpeaking of the money raised so far, Claire said: “We’d like to thank everyone who’s donated.
“It means the world to us and this money will help us achieve our dream of ensuring Thomas can enjoy the rest of his life in a suitable family home.”