A FAMILY are hoping to raise £15,000 for advanced treatment abroad in order that a mother with a rare genetic condition can see her son properly again.

Jodie Hardwick, from Teesville, Middlesbrough, who is married to Craig, suffers from Frederich’s Ataxia, which progressively attacks the nervous system.

Because of it her sight has deteriorated in recent years and she can now only see her five-year-son Rhys in silhouette.

Mrs Hardwick, who also suffers from deafness and uses a wheelchair, is hoping to travel to China for stem cell treatment which it is hoped could improve her sight, hearing and muscle function.

The treatment, a series of injections, is not available in the UK and because of its cost a go fund me page has been set up by family members.

To date more than £1,130 has been raised online, while a bucket collection in the Morrison’s supermarket in Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough, raised £945.

The 29-year-old’s mother Michelle Woods said: “It’s not a cure, but it could give her some of her sight back and it would mean the world to her.

“I have been told this is caused by a dodgy gene. Jodie was fine up until the age of seven when she got measles and after that she seemed to be wobbly on her legs and was falling over all the time.”

At first doctors believed she was suffering from the muscle-wasting disorder Roussy Levy Syndrome, but that diagnosis was changed to Friedreich’s Ataxia when she was 16.

Ms Woods added: “Her speech is shaky and she needs care pretty much around the clock. We were told there was no treatment for her, but my sister Julie Allport and found a clinic, the Shixin Hospital in Dongguan.

“We’re willing to try anything before it’s too late.”

To make a donation to the appeal fund visit https://www.gofundme.com/2tkcv4s