A couple have launched a ‘sky-high’ campaign to highlight a rare life-threatening liver con-dition in babies.
The first event will be a 15,000ft skydive to raise awareness and cash for two specialist chari-ties.
The joy of Ilkley couple Dave Harker and Gemma Pascal turned into their worst night-mare when their son Amos needed a life-saving operation when he was nine-weeks-old.
It was discovered Amos had the life-threatening liver condition Biliary Atresia.
Biliary Atresia is a rare condi-tion in new-born babies where the common bile duct between the liver and the small intestine becomes blocked.
If unrecognised, it leads to fatal liver damage.
Even if surgery is successful, many patients go on to have a liver transplant in a couple of years.
Only around 50 new cases are diagnosed in the UK each year and the cause unknown.
Mr Harker, a dental technician, said ultrasound scans during Gemma’s pregnancy had shown Amos had a cyst, but they had no idea he was suffering from the condition until they took him to the doctors with jaundice.
He was rushed to hospital in Leeds, one of only three centres in the UK which has the expertise to treat such cases.
For more details, read Thursday's Telegraph & Argus.
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