THE future of a popular animal sanctuary is hanging in the balance after its owner was diagnosed with a rare condition and told to stay away from the very creatures he has sworn to protect.

Kevin Plummer, who set up Kays Hill Animal Sanctuary (KHAS), near West Auckland, nearly 11 years ago, has recently been diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis.

The long-term, chronic condition causes the spine and other areas of the body become inflamed.

Mr Plummer first fell unwell when he was 21 and had surgery on his back after suffering acute pain but it would be three more decades before doctors finally diagnosed him with the hereditary condition.

“They have had me on depression tablets over the years saying it’s in my head and saying it could not move from one joint to another,” he said.

Mr Plummer described his condition as “rogue” as his pain can move from joint to joint quickly which stops him sleeping and also affects his organs.

He has already suffered several heart attacks and small strokes and been admitted to hospital three times in the last month alone as his immune system has started to attack his body.

“It affects your joints but with me it’s gone rogue because it’s attacking my eyes, my lungs, my heart, liver and intestines so there’s not much of me left inside,” he said. “Eventually it will just turn into mush and that will be the end of me.”

Now 52, Mr Plummer hopes to start a specialist biochemical treatment this week where he will be given monthly injections to “wipe out” the immune system that is attacking him.

However, the injections, which he will have to have for the rest of his life, will mean a common cold could kill him and will only stop the condition from getting any worse rather than cure it.

“I asked how long I have and they said without the treatment not long; they said about ten years a couple of years ago,” he added.

Doctors have advised the father-of-four to stay away from the animals, making it impossible for him to carry on his vocation.

“We deal with animals that come in with God knows what; something like a hedgehog could have salmonella and I am never clean with the work,” he said. “It is slowly killing me.”

However, Mr Plummer, who runs KHAS with fellow animal lover, Leanne Wesley, said he is determined to try to keep it open.

He has just hired a new manager and has about a dozen dedicated volunteers but said they would need to double the amount of helpers to stand a chance of keeping the sanctuary open.

“At the minute the volunteers are keeping it going but we are desperate for more,” he said. “If not we will have to close, there’s no two ways about it.”

KHAS, which has more than 200 animals on its books, will now be reducing the amount it takes in.