The heartbroken parents of a critically ill little boy have paid tribute to their 'amazing Teddy' after he tragically died in his mum's arms on Christmas Day.
Teddy Curry, aged two, was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic condition months after he was born in December 2017.
Parents Stephanie and Adam, from Litherland, were first given the devastating news their son was deaf, weeks after he was born.
However, after taking their son home, the concerned couple noticed his health deteriorating.
And after taking him to their GP, the little boy was diagnosed with Peroxisomal Biogensis Disorder (PBD), a condition which affects just one in 50,000 people.
Stephanie told the ECHO: “We were in hospital for ten weeks in the end.
"We were essentially told to go home and enjoy our little boy, as we were not going to have him forever."
The degenerative condition causes global developmental delays, deafness, blindness/multi-sensory loss and a plethora of other health issues.
Following the tragic diagnosis Stephanie, a nurse, and Adam, a builder, decided to create a bucket list of adventures for their little boy.
She said: “One of the other things on his bucket list was to bounce on a bouncy castle.
“So we did a little charity BBQ, with a bouncy castle in the garden - we asked people to pay £10 to come in and gave that money to Zellweger UK - a charity which supports families living with PBD.”
Teddy also enjoyed a donkey ride, visiting the Blackpool lights and going on an airplane.
Another memorable moment was when Teddy met Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold, who - so touched by the little boy - even posted his own tribute to the youngster on Instagram.
Stephanie, a nurse, added: “He brought so many people together, and he brought the best out of people.
“On his bucket list was to visit Anfield, but I thought I don’t just want to do the stadium tour - because anyone can do that.
“But through people being kind, and nice, we were invited to watch an open training session at Melwood, where he met all of the players - that was an amazing evening.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold actually came to our house, in his own time - how nice was that.
"Then on Boxing Day 2018 we were invited to watch the game against Newcastle from a box.
"We popped Teddy’s little hearing aids in, and we sat outside and I swear he could feel the atmosphere... the roar of the crowd, when they were singing you’ll never walk alone.
"I have an amazing picture of us, and it looks like he’s cheering.”
Despite everything there were still moments of joy for Teddy - especially when he was playing with his dad’s bushy beard, or blowing raspberries.
Stephanie said: “He loved blowing raspberries - the sensation of it on his lips - and running his hands through his dad’s beard. He’d smile.”
The parents, who have been married for eight years, sadly lost their first son Louis in December 2016.
Stephanie said: “Louis had a severe form of spina bifida, part of his brain wasn’t forming as it should have been, and we lost him at 21 weeks.
“So this pregnancy was more than cautious - but to be honest, it was so plain sailing, as was the labour, I was totally zen, and everything went straight forward.”
However, sadly, in the summer of 2018, Stephanie noticed one side of her son’s stomach was hard and after a trip to the GP Teddy was sent to hospital where he was diagnosed with an enlarged liver.
Shortly after, Teddy was admitted to Alder Hey, and under the treatment of a metabolic specialist was diagnosed with the rare disease.
And sadly, on Christmas Day, little Teddy died in his mum's arms.
The couple said despite the tragic loss of their son, they have been overwhelmed over by the support from people.
Stephanie added: “People are so lovely, and that is the biggest thing that has shone through while we’ve had Teddy - people are so nice.
“A couple who saw us loading all the booze onto the conveyer belt at Tesco asked us what we were doing, and I explained about Teddy and the charity BBQ.
"The next thing he was shoving £5 in my pocket.
“Our friends arranged a couple of charity nights - Teddy’s Treats’ to raise enough money for us to rent the oxygen concentrator Teddy needed so we could take him on holiday.”
And the couple said they will be eternally grateful to the staff at Alder Hey for everything they did for Teddy - especially the staff on ward 4C, the community matrons and Consultant Chris Grime.
Stephanie said: “They were all amazing, I couldn’t sing their praises any more. They have been our real life angels.
“The girls on 4C have become like family. When he was in the HDU they visited him everyday - it sounds like nothing, but these are girls who have their own heavy workload, so they’d pop in on their break or at the end of their shift. They were just another level of people, they were so good.
“Some of them even came in their own time to his funeral - it’s just another example of how nice everyone has been, and how they have been with us.”
