A FUNDRAISING page has been set up to help a Blackburn mechanic who needs an operation to battle a rare condition.

Chris Hargreaves, 31, a self-employed mechanic, had been feeling unwell for some months but just thought he had a cold.

He was rushed to hospital on January 21 and doctors discovered he had the condition infective endocarditis, which is an infection of the heart.

Now, Ken Davison, one of his friends has launched a GoFundMe page so the dad-of-three does not have to worry about money.

Ken said: “I’m doing this fundraiser to take the stress off him a bit to get him his partner and his children some money to get them through this rough patch.

“He won’t get sick pay from work due to being self-employed and the stress of him not being able to work to provide for his family is no doubt making him worse.

“This disease is mega rare in people of Chris’s age as it is normally only affects the elderly.

“He is well-known to people in Blackburn for working at a garage on Weir Street.

“Normally this condition could be treated with antibiotics but because he went untreated for so long two of his heart valves deteriorated so badly he now needs an operation to repair them and it became urgent because his aortic heart valve was almost totally destroyed.

“He wouldn’t have lasted even a month without his transfer to Blackpool Victoria Hospital specialist heart ward.

Former Witton Park School student Chris, speaking from the Royal Blackburn Hospital before being transferred to Blackpool, said: “I did not know he had done it, I am astounded by it.

“You don’t realise how much people care and want to help until you get ill.

“I am feeling okay in myself for the most part, just I get out of breath very easily.”

“My heart is in a bad way and I have a bicuspid aortic heart valve too which is a birth defect I did not know I had and is classed as heart disease.

“It’s been a life changer and am worried about the operation.

“The rest of the family are struggling for now because I can’t make any money and they are trying to find some benefits to help with shopping.

“But emotionally my partner is really worried and my youngest daughter cries when we speak on the phone.”

To donate visit gf.me/u/qpzv92