Please Help Levi Eat

After a traumatic birth we were relieved to be told our son was healthy but Levi had a surprise for us, he was actually born with down syndrome and two rare bowel disorders which has meant he has had to bravely endure many surgeries.

Levi (4) has never tasted his own birthday cake or eaten at a family gathering. He could manage a very small amount of solids at first but not enough to thrive. A Mickey button was inserted into his stomach to allow us to feed him.

Sadly, one of his rare disorders, a congenital bowel blockage remained undiagnosed for nearly 4 years, causing him excruciating pain and this led him to stop eating altogether, leaving him with a traumatic food aversion.

We only found 11 case reports worldwide of people with both these disorders. Levi may be the only person in NZ.

Now medically stable after surgery to unblock his bowel we cannot wean him without expert help that is unavailable in New Zealand & Australasia.

Levi has been accepted for treatment by the world leading expert in tube weaning complex children, Dr Markus Wilken of Germany. This is very expensive as our choices either to head to Europe or to bring Dr Wilken and his colleague to New Zealand to finish Levi's wean. This is an intense therapy process & we need to fundraise to make this happen.

We would be greatly humbled by whatever help is generously offered as this will be life changing & will make Levi's future much brighter, allowing him to enjoy food & have greater independence.