A three-year-old boy was left brain-damaged and unable to communicate after his tonsilitis diagnosis turned into an incurable condition.
Little Reggie was diagnosed with tonsillitis during a telephone GP appointment, but only two weeks later his condition worsened, his dad John Johnson said.
The child had a seizure while on holiday with his family, so he was rushed to hospital, Hull Live reports.
However, his condition did not improve and Reggie continued suffering seizures and spent three weeks in intensive care.
Two months later, he was diagnosed with FIRES - Febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome.
The condition strikes previously healthy children aged between three and 15, causing them to have back-to-back seizures that can last for more than 24 hours.
There is no unique treatment for FIRES, but there are some drugs such as benzodiazepines, barbiturates and magnesium that can treat it, the Epilepsy Foundation explains.
Reggie now lives in a hospital bed at home and has to take 13 different drugs each day to wade off his seizures.
John, 35, who cares for Reggie round-the-clock with his wife Natalie, 37, said: "He's a totally different child.
"Reggie was an absolutely normal three-year-old. Now, he's got brain damage and no communication. If I stand and say his name he won't even acknowledge me. He's in his own world.
"Our life has completely changed and it all started from tonsillitis - from a cold that any child can get. In the long term, there's no answer - this is his life."
John added: "He was walking and running from 10 months. He actually got moved up a class at nursery.
"And then all of a sudden he got a common cold and ended up with tonsillitis."
John called his local GP practice who advised him that Reggie had tonsillitis and prescribed him a five-day course of antibiotics.
A week later, Reggie was back to his usual self as the family went on holiday on June 4 at a local caravan site where he played on fairground rides.
But the family had to call an ambulance after the boy suffered a seizure.
Doctors carried out a CT scan before transferring him to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for an MRI scan but they could not work out what was wrong.
John said: "They did the scan and said it was clear. We were like 'what the hell is going on here?'"
Reggie continued to suffer seizures in hospital and was moved to intensive care, where he spent three weeks.
John said: "For three weeks he was deteriorating and went into an epileptic state.
"He was shaking uncontrollably in bed. It was so bizarre. The doctors didn't know what was going on with him."
He was released from the hospital in August with FIRES on his discharge form but he still cannot talk.
His parents care for Reggie in their three-bed semi-detached home, which son Kye, 17 and Lexi, 5, also live in.
Reggie has since suffered more seizures which have put him back in hospital.
John said: "It's so awful for Reggie. We can't even take him anywhere now. We even have to medicate him to go to sleep.
"His hospital bed is in the front room. We take turns sleeping on the sofa with him - we just can't leave him at all.
"We live this 24 hours. We wake up and deal with the day and then go to sleep and deal with tomorrow.
"It kills you inside. We both try our best to keep positive. But we've found something now to give us strength - that he's alive and he's breathing."
