A little boy has left doctors baffled with a mystery condition that leaves him unable to eat chocolate or porridge.
Harley Duddin could not eat or drink anything for three years after medics discovered all the milk he tried to drink as a baby was going straight to his lungs.
The Sunderland youngster’s parents saw at a week old that Harley could only manage one or two gulps of milk before starting to cry.
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After several chest infections, he was rushed to hospital at three months old when he suddenly stopped breathing.
“They said he was dying - he was totally grey,” said mum Kimberley.
“They said they didn’t know how he was still alive.”
Scans showed he had silent aspiration - meaning any food or drink he was consuming went to his lungs instead of his stomach.
For three years Harley was completely nil by mouth and was fed entirely through a tube into his stomach.
And despite numerous tests, doctors are no closer to discovering the cause of the four-year-old’s silent aspiration.
“It’s a mystery to doctors in Newcastle and Sunderland - they’ve never seen anything like it,” Kimberley said.
“He had two operations to see what’s wrong, he had brain scans to see if he was brain damaged but nothing showed up.”
In another mystifying development, a scan last year showed that Harley was no longer aspirating.
Kimberley said: “That’s when we started trialling foods and it’s been a success - he’s now eating most things and also enjoying liquids with a thickener in.
“He still can’t eat chocolate, sticky things like porridge and hard things like crisps, and he still has two machine feeds a day to keep his weight up and keep him hydrated.
“We’ve got to monitor him but he’s doing absolutely amazing.”
The mum added: “It was hard for him - when he was little he used to get a plastic cup and pretend to drink, or he’d get a spoon and bowl and pretend to eat - it was heartbreaking for us.
“We’ve got two daughters so one of us would sit with him in another room so he didn’t see them eating.
“Hallowe’en and Easter were a big thing, because he couldn’t have sweets or chocolate, so he used to cry and scream - it was heartbreaking to see.”
The family were inspired to start a charity after having to refuse a selection box while Harley was in hospital over Christmas in 2018.
Kimberley said: “There was no alternative to it so we decided to start raising funds to give toys to children who were nil by mouth.
“All donations go towards presents for the hospital so all children will be included in getting gifts at special occasions.”
Harley’s family are still hoping that he may one day be able to eat all the foods other children can enjoy.
His mum said: ““It’s a mystery to the hospital so we’re just basically going by Harley.
“We’re hoping he can just be like any other child.”
To donate to the family's fundraising appeal go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/harleys-toy-appeal-for-nil-by-mouth-children?qid=c77c1868c6435c992516b881360ae277.
