Charity provides special equipment for two-year-old boy with rare condition

Two-year-old Asher Whatton in his new chair.

Asher Whatton, of South Normanton, has a condition so rare it does not have a name.

Caused by a chromosomal abnormality, it means Asher has a variety of physical and neurological complications including being unable to sit up without support.

His dad Adam said: “Looking after Asher is like looking after a new-born baby – but he’s a big boy – he’s heavy. When we are at home, we would either have to carry Asher or he had to lie on the floor because we didn’t have the right supportive seating to keep him comfortable.”

The lack of the right equipment meant Asher and his parents were missing out on being able to play together. In desperation, they turned to Newlife, the Charity for Disabled Children for help.

The charity provided Asher with a Neptune seat - an innovative piece of equipment that allows Asher to be moved around his home and means he can be positioned at different heights. They also gave him a special seat so he can enjoy bath time with his baby sisters.

“Asher loves to be in the kitchen with his mum, but up until now, this area of the house was out of bounds,” Adam said.

The charity wants to continue help families like Asher’s but is in need of a funding boost.

Newlife’s head of charity operations, Stephen Morgan, said: “The charity has another 15 disabled and terminally ill children in Derbyshire who are in need of specialist equipment and we must raise £3,761 to help them too.”

n Visit www.newlifecharity.co.uk.