The brave little girl who cannot eat (From This Is Lancashire)

The brave little girl who cannot eat

7:57am Tuesday 15th June 2010 in

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IMAGINE being told that your child will never eat, knowing they could never digest food, a simple act that we all take for granted.

That is the reality facing parents Mike Stuttard and Vicky Pitt.

Their daughter, Tabitha, aged two, has a rare brain condition which means she is unable to consume food and has to be fed through a tube.

But the couple have vowed to help their brave daughter overcome her challenge.

Mr Stuttard, aged 48, said: “Tabitha is a happy, smiley, little girl who has been through an awful lot but is always brave.

“The tube means she gets fed but the longer she is on it the more dependent she becomes.

“We don’t accept she will never eat, we’re adamant there is something we can do about it.”

Now they are fighting to raise the £15,000 needed to give little Tabitha a chance to do what the rest of us take for granted.

The toddler has Partial Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, which means part of her brain is missing, and also means she can only be fed through a tube.

Her parents have been told to prepare themselves for the fact she may have to eat this way for the rest of her life.

After researching the problem on the internet, the couple, who live in Egerton, have found out about a clinic in Austria which specialises in weaning tube-dependant children away from their tubes. It claims to have helped more than 800 children in 20 years, with a high success rate.

Mr Stuttard and Ms Pitt, aged 39, want their daughter to start the treatment as soon as possible because the earlier the intervention, the easier the treatment.

But it costs £15,000 and an application to NHS Bolton, the primary care trust which oversees local health services, for funding was unsuccessful. An appeal also failed.

The couple, who also have a son, Brodie, aged one, now plan to raise the money themselves and are appealing for help to reach the target.

Mr Stuttard said: “We have been in touch with the clinic and they are sure they can help Tabitha, we don’t have the money.

“We need help and as soon as possible, the weaning will get more difficult as she gets older and being tube fed could impact on her development, for example, her speech.”

NHS Bolton says it is sorry its decision has disappointed the family.

A spokesman added: “Unfortunately the panel’s decision was to uphold the decision of the Individual Case Panel as there was no new evidence presented to confirm that the case is exceptional and a comprehensive package of care was already in place.”

The family have set up a Facebook group, Help Tabitha Eat, and are fundraising hard. Anyone who wants to help should join the group or contact 07786 234839.

cherry.thomas@thebolton news.co.uk