A Scots youngster with a rare condition that affects his bowel told his mum he wanted to die as he couldn't take the pain anymore.
Poor Connor Noble, 12, has spent most of his young life in and out of hospital enduring multiple operations while medics tired to diagnosis his condition.
The youngster's symptoms started when he was just a baby and include persistent vomiting, being unable to go to the toilet and even bringing up blood.
The trauma of his condition, alongside being bullied, left him feeling suicidal.
Connor's rare condition has yet to be named by doctors as only three other children have been diagnosed in the UK.
Specialists currently refer to the debilitating condition as severe Dysmotility and Pseudo-obstruction, which paralyses Connor's stomach, intestines and bowel.
Connor's mum Katrina Paterson, 42, was horrified when her son told her he no longer wanted to be alive anymore after a hospital stay.
Speaking to the Record, Katrina, from Gauldry, Fife, said: "I went into Connor's room one day, he must have been about eight, and he was banging his cars together with tears streaming down his face.
"He said 'I'm a freak, why does this have to happen to me'?"
Connor later confessed: "I don't want to live my life anymore. I just want to die."
"I was heartbroken. The fact that he felt there was no way out", Katrina added.
At his worst, Connor has to be tube-fed and can't tolerate his own saliva.
He had operations for a NG tube to be fitted in 2013 so doctors could feed him, a gastrostomy tube and an A.C.E tube fitted in 2014, as well as having a central line fitted in 2015.
The A.C.E tube was fitted so Connor's bowel could be flushed out with saline to prevent it becoming blocked.
Since then he has been in and out of hospital continuously as the length of stay differs depending on the severity of his symptoms.
As a toddler Connor spent nearly one year in hospital, with just seven weeks at home, as he was continually sick every 30 minutes for six weeks in 2012.
Katrina waited years for a diagnosis for her son despite multiple tests and trials.
During one trial, Connor was given small disks to ingest. The normal human body would process this in around 48-hours but when he was X-rayed 17-weeks later, the disks were still in his system.
Katrina said: "I thought, 'am I doing something wrong?' As a mother you think you should be able to protect your child from everything. I kept asking his consultant 'what am I doing wrong'?
"All the time you spend in hospital it is so draining and tiring. It is awful when all these things are happening and there is nothing you can do.
"You are running on vapour."
Connor's mum and dad, William Noble, are now desperate to raise awareness of the condition and cash for a gut specialist.
Although his medical team at Ninewells Hospital have been great so far, the family are hoping this specialist - Dr Shahab Siddiqi - can provide more answers on Connor's condition and potentially improve his quality of life.
A fundraising page has been launched to help pay bills for this so young Connor can hopefully lead a more normal life and fulfil his dream of becoming a child psychologist.
Donations to the page can be made by clicking here.
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