A CHARITY has made it much easier for a Runcorn mum to look after her disabled baby.

Mum-of-three Karina Timson was struggling to care for one-year-old Parker in a cot.

He has a condition which affects his brain and results in seizures. He is unable to swallow so relies on a suctioning machine to stop him from choking and is fed through a tube in his stomach.

Karina, aged 34, from Castlefields, said: "I had to put rolled up blankets under one end of his mattress so he could lie at an angle, then wedge him in with other blankets so he couldn't roll away when he is hooked up to his suctioning machine, oxygen saturation monitor and feeding pump."

Her community nurse contacted Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children, which offers an emergency loan service, Just Can't Wait, for families of life-limited children who need specialist support. A specialist bed arrived in days.

Karina said: "The bed has made a huge difference. It rises up and down at the touch of a button so it is much easier for us to get to him. The charity has been fantastic."

Karina and her partner, Jason Watkins, aged 42, who works at a DHL warehouse,

have a two-year-old daughter, Georgia, and a four-year-old son, Corey, who has cerebral palsy and severe asthma and deafness.

She added: "They only expected Parker to survive for 24 hours. He's just celebrated his first birthday so he's doing a lot better than expected.

"He's a cheeky little chap and likes to talk to his brother. He coos and aaahs to him.

"He is very much a mummy's boy, very close to me. He struggles with his sight and relies on sense and smell. He is gradually getting used to different people.

"He has a cracking smile most of the time."