A brave toddler is fighting back after being born with a crippling disease.

Dale Collins was born nine weeks early suffering from a rare disorder with left him low levels of sodium and potassium.

He then survived two heart attacks brought on by the loss of fluid. Doctors later discovered he was brain-damaged.

Things looked so bleak that Dale's parents Diane and David made the heart-breaking decision to stop all treatment.

But Dale has amazed them all.

He refused to give up and battled against the odds, and now, for the first time in his short life, things are really beginning to look up.

At two-and-a-half Dale has been left with severe cerebral palsy and suffers from fits.

But thanks to a programme of specialised treatment and exercises, Diane, David and nine-year-old sister Jade are getting to know their little boy for the first time.

Diane, of Coronation Avenue, Colchester, said: "He has improved immensely and is so much more alert and happy. He's a pleasure to be with.

"We never knew what he was going to be like before, so we couldn't take him out. He's wonderful now and we take him all over the place."

Things have been improving since doctors fitted a feeding tube at Christmas.

Dale's weight plummeted after he stopped eating, and he was permanently weak and ill. Now he is fed via the tube overnight, and although he still has fits and has no control over his head movement, he is growing stronger every day.

The Collins don't know what caused Dale's brain damage, but they are determined to do all that they can to help him.

The charity Brainwave has helped the family to put together a programme of exercises designed to improve Dale's strength and movement.

"A therapist assessed Dale and gave him exercises to do," said Diane. "We started them a year ago, but it is only since Christmas that he has really got into it and begun to enjoy it."

She added: "We are keeping our fingers crossed he will continue to improve. We do the exercises with him throughout the day and he loves it. We have to swing him around and he's always laughing and chuckling.

"The programme's working really well and the people at Brainwave are wonderful."

The family discovered the Somerset-based charity through a friend who also has a brain damaged child.

Now they have regular meetings with therapists, and can't wait to show Brainwave how much Dale has improved when they next travel down to Somerset in August.

Dale and his mum share a smile

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