A family of a terminally ill toddler is hoping to bring their son back home to Devon after he has been receiving treatment at Bristol Children's Hospital.
The parents of 18-month-old Zachery - the only survivor of three triplets - had hoped doctors would be able to diagnose what severe illness was robbing the toddler of living a normal life, reports Devon Live.
Zachary bears problems with his heart, brain, liver, spleen and eyesight, while a recent MRI scan has detected more abnormalities.
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Zachary is currently at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children where he has been for five months. The toddler continues to amaze his family and doctors with his happy nature despite his health condition.
Parents Natasha Salter and David Reeves, Exmouth, have been told the news they were dreading to hear.
Mother Natasha said: "Zachary's MRI showed that his veins travelling to and from his heart have quite a lot of abnormalities that the cardiac team have informed us they can’t fix.
"One of these has a narrowing to his lungs which I believe will eventually stop blood reaching his lungs so they will end up stopping working.
"We have been informed it won’t be a sudden death; he will start to struggle to breathe, possibly start turning blue and be hospitalised for his last moments."
She added the family are fighting at the moment to be given an actual time span rather than being told, 'we're unsure how long he’s got'.
Natasha and David are currently alternating being with Zachary in hospital while looking after the needs of their two-year-old daughter, Eleanor.
Zachary's sister desperately misses her little brother and not having both her parents at home at the same time.
Natasha said: "We were sent home at Christmas for two weeks which we thought was just a nice gesture but it turns out it was to make 'memories'. In my eyes, that means they don’t think he’ll make the next one.
"We have set up the GoFundMe page to do all the activities we want to before he goes. It will also help towards a christening maybe and towards his funeral when the time comes.
"He’s not currently holding any food down, his gut isn’t working like it should be to absorb anything and he has now got a pancreatic deficiency.
"Due to this, he will be coming home on specialised medication that we have to be trained on which could still take another four to eight weeks. Overall, we would have done between nine to 11 months in hospital by the time we even get to take our boy home to enjoy him while we can."
The family have moved into a private three-bed home to rent after being made homeless at the end of September last year after Natasha was forced to give up her job as a full-time manager at The Clinton Arms in Littleham, to become Zachary's full-time carer.
They were having to stay with Natasha’s parents in their spare double room in Exmouth before they eventually found their home.
Zachary's family are fundraising to try and make the toddler's last moments memorable. They have a target of £10,000 and have so far raised £410. To make a donation to Zachary's fundraiser, please click here.
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