More than £2,500 has been raised for a Bridport family's appeal to buy much-needed medical equipment

Abbygail Rathbone's son, Dean, was born in 2019 with a very rare condition which causes heart defects, problems with growth, sight, walking and speech, facial deformities, organ failure and seizures.

He stopped growing at 24 weeks and when he was born at 37 weeks, he had to be resuscitated nine times. He was sent to Poole Hospital where he remained in a critical condition before being put on to oxygen and sent back to Dorset County Hospital.

Dean, which has a six-year-old sister called Amelia, has been in and out of hospital and the family initially started fundraising for a night watch, which would monitor seizures at night. This has now been donated by a charity and the money raised will buy other vital equipment, such as a walker, oxygen monitor, heart monitor and video monitor.

Abbygail said: "He is the third one in the UK to have this extremely rare condition. It is called ZTTK syndrome. It is caused by the mutation SON gene. It's a severe multi-system developmental disorder.

"The medical equipment he needs would mean the world to us. We are constantly checking him.

"He's not allowed to get a temperature as that could bring on a seizure, so we are constantly checking that. Also, he's been going blue so we have to get an oxygen monitor as it might be his heart defect.

"I'm constantly worried and stressed. It would mean everything to be able to not worry so much.

"People have been so kind so far."

To find out more and donate, visit gofundme.com

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