A mum and dad said they have been living their "worst nightmare" after their son was diagnosed with a rare genetic illness.
Joseph Robert, aged eight and from Huyton, attended MMA (mixed martial arts) training every day after school when he began to complain of having "sore feet".
Joseph's dad Simon, 39, said in lockdown the family also began to notice changes in his mobility and took him to the doctors to find out what was wrong.
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The family was initially told he needed an operation due to having tight Achilles tendons but their "world came crumbling down" when a later blood test confirmed his diagnosis five months ago.
Joseph was born with a rare genetic disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) which gradually causes the muscles to weaken leading to an increasing level of disability.
Simon and wife Sarah, 32, told the ECHO it is not only a life-limiting disease but the most rapidly aggressive childhood neuromuscular disease.
Simon said: "He used to go every day after school five times a week doing his MMA training and he kept complaining that he had sore feet.
"We just didn't know if it was from the training or if he was getting tired. When everything shut down because of covid we started noticing changes in him with the way he walked, went up and down the stairs and got out of bed.
"His mobility started deteriorating and slowly getting worse."
Simon said they took Joseph to the doctors and initially thought he needed an operation due to having tight Achilles tendons, but a later blood test confirmed his diagnosis.
Simon said: "It destroyed us. We spent a month crying. I can't even put into words how horrible it is
"He knows there’s something not right with him. He tells us my 'legs don't work as they should' or 'what’s wrong with me dad.'
"He's just the most funny, lovely, well-mannered little boy. Everyone who meets him says I cant believe the manners on him. He’s such a lovely little lad and all he dreams of is to be a UFC champion."
Joseph is crazy about Liverpool FC and mum Sarah said he is also a brilliant big brother to Lilly-Mai, aged six.
Sarah said: "He loves to play with his friends but he's deteriorated very fast. He wants to do things he can’t do, like he can’t take part in PE at school because he physically can't do things an eight-year-old boy should be doing.
"He's a protective big brother. They’re both none the wiser of what’s going on. We've told him bits - like his muscles are poorly and he may need to go to America because it can’t be helped here.
"It’s heartbreaking. He’s saying I'm going to do this when I'm older and in the back of your head you’re thinking how do you bring yourself to tell your kid. Even just watching him do daily activities, it’s heartbreaking watching him struggle to do things."
Immediately after Joseph's diagnosis, the family started researching and looking into possibilities of treatment.
Sarah said they came across another family who received critical care and took part in a trial for a treatment in America that is not yet on the market in the UK.
Sarah said the treatment lasts four months and "tricks" the muscles into repairing themselves adding other children have returned months later to repeat the treatment.
She said: "I thought we can't just sit back. We’ve got to fight and there’s got to be something out there. We’ve had sleepless nights, crying, thinking there’s got to be something.
"We haven't been able to physically sit him down and say to him you're never going to be this, or do that or accomplish these things because your life is going to be limited. As a family, it’s our little boy, it’s our baby - it would mean the world to us.
"This opportunity has given us hope and something to be positive about. We want to give him a fighting chance like any other child should have."
Joseph now has the chance to go to the US and the family are trying to raise enough money to travel and pay for his treatment and care through a number of fundraising events and a JustGiving page.
Sarah and Simon said in a matter of days donations have "flooded in" and given the family further hope.
Simon said: "The alternative is to sit there and watch him wither away and we can’t do that. We’ve got to fight with everything we’ve got.
"It restores your faith in humanity because you think the world is not a nice place and then some people have gone out their way to be so kind. It’s overwhelming."
To visit Joseph's JustGiving page and find out more, click here.
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