THE mother of a four-month-old baby diagnosed with a rare condition is hoping a bone marrow transplant will cure him.

Jenni Ali’s life fell apart when her son Jax was diagnosed with IPEX Syndrome, an autoimmune disease, in October.

The 39-year-old said she took Jax to hospital two weeks after he was born after noticing his breathing had become unusually fast. Tests found his blood sugar levels were off the chart and Jax was diagnosed with neonatal diabetes.

He was transferred from Manchester Royal Infirmary to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital’s high dependency unit and spent three weeks there, being given a constant supply of insulin.

Jax was able to go home at the start of December but returned on December 14 to collect blood test results.

Mrs Ali, from Accrington, said her heart sank when she found out her little boy was diagnosed with type one diabetes and IPEX Syndrome. IPEX primarily affects males and is caused by problems with the immune system. The immune system of people with IPEX can malfunction and attack the body’s own tissues and organs instead of protecting them as it normally would.

Mrs Ali said: “Jax has got damage to his pancreas, his thyroid and his bowels because of this awful condition.

“Doctors said it was so rare, there are only about 250 people in the world with it.

“He is so poorly. He has been through so much.”

While Mrs Ali has spent the majority of her time at the children’s hospital, her husband, Saidina, had to quit his job to look after their four-year-old son, Jaya, and three-year-old daughter, Jasmine.

Mrs Ali said a bone marrow transplant is the only treatment for him. She said: “We managed to find a donor for him, but now he’s undergoing chemotherapy before the transplant.

“The chemotherapy will destroy his immune system so the body can accept the transplant.

“This means Jax will spend several months in isolation at the hospital. It’s been incredibly difficult for the whole family.

“My husband has had to quit his job to look after our other children at home.

“My kids get worried when they or I get poorly because they think they’re going to go to hospital like Jax.”

Mrs Ali, who now lives in Manchester, said friends from her hometown are set to complete a sponsored walk from Manchester Children’s Hospital to Accrington Victoria Community Hospital to raise money to support the family.

Mrs Ali said: “The support we’ve had is fantastic, my friends have been amazing.

“We’re hoping the transplant goes well, but the situation doesn’t stop there. We’re going to have to monitor everything he eats and make sure his blood levels are okay. Because he’s a baby he can’t tell us how he feels, he can’t tell us if he needs sugar.”

A gofundme page has raised over £2,000. Visit gofundme.com and search Jax’s Journey.