Fundraising appeal launched to buy therapy dog for six-year-old River Wardley

River Wardley

The parents of six-year-old River Wardley, from Littleborough, who is one of only nine people in the world suffering from a life threatening genetic condition, have launched an appeal to improve his quality of life with a specially trained therapy dog.

River, understood to be the only child in the UK with the disorder, suffers from the extremely rare mutation on his CNK SR2 gene, which causes seizures, and intellectual, attention and language deficits. He also has central and obstructive sleep apnoea, hypermobility syndrome, Sensory Processing Disorder, autism, ADHD and uncontrolled epilepsy.

His mum, Jeni said: “It took them five years to find this mutation and because the doctors didn’t know anything about it, there was very little they could tell us about it. The geneticist had to go away and research it.

“River is non-verbal and suffers from life-threatening seizures called Status Epileticus where his seizures are a medical emergency. He's attended resuscitation so many times, first when he was only five weeks old. I’ve had to perform CPR on River when he was two-years-old - he can stop breathing due to a seizure.”

Usually, the mutation is passed to male children from their mothers, who carry the mutation on an X chromosome. However, Jeni is not a carrier of the mutation and says her pregnancy was fine.

His parents believe a therapy dog from Autism Life Dogs will benefit River and his nine-year old sister, Roxi-Blue, who also has autism and sensory issues. Jeni’s third child, Ocean, who is one, has not been diagnosed with any serious medical conditions.

Jeni added: “We believe that an Autism Life Dog would be beneficial to both River and Roxy as they will both benefit from the unique therapy the dogs are trained in, as well as the companionship that the dog would provide to both children and the positive focus it would give us as a family.

“They can be trained to help with River’s seizures too from lying next to him to stop him hurting himself to getting blankets for him to lie on during a seizure and assisting in all kinds of ways.

“It can be scary on your own when River’s having a seizure, so a therapy dog would really help.”

The therapy dog, which is specially matched with a family, can even be trained to lie with the children during sensory overload to help them feel grounded and secure, including outside.

A ‘Forever Friend’ dog from the charity costs £6,500, requiring a deposit of £1,000. Jeni hopes to have one placed in time for River’s seventh birthday in April.

The mother-of-three continued: “River continues to have therapies, hospital admissions, and many obstacles in life. We have both given up work to care for our son as he needs around the clock care, so we are hoping to fund raise to make this dream possible for River.

“All we can do is hope and pray our River makes it into adulthood. We have nearly lost him so many times; he's often ‘blue lighted’ to resuscitation.

“We want to make the most of everyday we have with him, making special memories, for him to enjoy his life to the best we can because we don’t know what the future holds. A therapy dog has so many things to attribute to River’s life and development. He adores animals, and it would mean the world to us as a family to give River this happiness for all he goes through.

“Despite all his challenges, he is a lovely sunny little boy, and is determined to fight everything life has thrown at him. River is loved by everyone who meets him; he’s such an inspiration.”

A spokesperson from Autism Life Dogs said: “We are a not-for-profit organisation which provides specially trained therapy dogs for children with autism and associated disorders.

“The families we work with ordinarily fund raise themselves for their dogs. However, we have received an application that has touched all our hearts and we are looking at ways that we can help River and his family to get their dog as quickly as possible.”

To donate, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/give-river-a-better-quality-life