RELATIVES of a baby struck down by a mystery illness are hoping to throw a first birthday party for him in hospital.

Zack Kerr is in a stable condition and making slow progress today in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, but doctors remain unsure as to whether he will be left with permanent brain damage.

He was taken into Burnley General Hospital three weeks ago when his mother Kristianne saw a rash and suspected he had meningitis.

He began having difficulty breathing and was transferred to Manchester on October 7, where Kristianne, of Hardman Avenue, Rawtenstall, has been keeping a bedside vigil. Meningitis has now been ruled out, but doctors suspect he is suffering from a virus which could have caused brain damage. He has undergone both a CT and an MRI scan and they have shown there is no damage to the nerve endings, but Zack is unable to move his limbs.

He will be one next Wednesday, and his relatives hope he will be transferred to Blackburn Royal Infirmary before then.

His grandmother, Mrs Gillian Howorth, of Broadfield Road, Accrington, said: "His eyes are open and they follow you around, but we can't tell if he recognises people.

"The doctors think it's something that to any other child would have been like a common cold. They think it was a virus he was particularly vulnerable to and couldn't shake off.

"They don't yet know what damage has been caused. We are planning a big party for him to celebrate his first birthday."

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