A teenager from Harold Wood with "a heart of gold" needs to return to America for medical treatment "before it's too late".
Archie Thursting was born in 2006 and has had serious gastrointestinal health issues since birth.
After years moving between hospitals in England, Archie and his mum Corinna Meads flew to Minnesota in America to visit a specialist doctor at the Mayo Clinic in May.
Here he was fitted with a type of catheter which allows for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) - a form of feeding that bypasses the digestive system completely.
Upon their return, Corinna said the hospitals in England have been unable to begin the TPN feeding and they are hoping to return to Minnesota for the treatment to begin.
“We hadn’t planned on going back to America, but the hospitals here haven’t been able to do anything," Corinna said.
“For Archie to start TPN feeds, it requires an admission of up to two or three weeks because they need to get the dosage right, so it needs to be a residential hospitalisation.
"We are now trying to organise funds so that we can take him back to America for the help he desperately needs before it's too late."
Corinna said the TPN feeding could give Archie an extra 10–15 years of life, as opposed to the "devastating 18 months to two year timescale" he was given last year.
Jess White - a family friend - began a GoFundMe page to support Archie's treatment and this partly facilitated his trip to America.
The target for the fundraiser currently sits at £50,000 which would allow Archie to return to Minnesota.
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/help-archie-fulfill-a-dream-access-the-care-he-deserves.
Corinna said that the GoFundMe has surprised her in both positive and negative ways.
“We just need help – it’s exhausting," she said.
“I’ve been a little bit shocked. They say you find out who your friends are in situations like this and people that I thought would share it, haven’t done.
“But, I’ve had two anonymous donors put in £5,000 so for that I’ll be eternally grateful.
“For them to go and give us five grand, it’s unbelievable.
“If you can’t afford to donate anything, I get it but I need help spreading Archie’s story as far as I can in case there’s a doctor or a millionaire who can help us out.
“I just want to get my son better.
“He’s 19-years-old and he’s been ill all of his life but the last two or three years have been especially horrendous."
Despite Archie's several illnesses including gastrointestinal dysmotility, spina bifida and chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction, Corinna said Archie has retained his kind and protective personality.
“He’s cheeky, outgoing and very protective of his younger family," she said.
“He’s got a heart of gold.
“He used to ride horses and he was brave as a lion with that.
“We laugh sometimes because we say ‘Archie, you couldn’t fight your way out of a wet paper bag’ but he still thinks of himself as a protector.
“I’m lucky that he’s got that bravado and swagger because I’m not sure he would have got as far as he has without being so strong."
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