'My baby will never walk or talk and might not live past his teens'

A mother whose baby will never be able to walk or talk has spoken of her devastation. Myles Tucker was born with 4H leukodystrophy, an incurable disease which only affects 120 children worldwide.

The life-threatening condition is mostly found in babies, with many tragically dying by their late teens. The extremely rare disorder means the three-year-old has severe hearing loss, is unable to speak, has trouble walking and only has seven teeth. His mum, Georgia Hughes, says the tot will eventually lose all of his mobility.

“It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” the 24-year-old told the Manchester Evening News . “He will have a shortened lifespan.

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“When we had the genetic result, the first thing the paediatrician said to me was that he’s going to lose all movement. It was very hard to take in because yes, he can’t walk or stand, but he’s very active and can crawl to get to places.

“You just don’t see things like that in the future. It’s very scary. I’m constantly on edge; if even the slightest thing is wrong, I’ll go to the doctors.”

Leukodystrophy describes a group of more than 50 inherited neurological disorders. These diseases affect myelin, the protective covering on nerve cells in the brain and spine.

Leukodystrophies cause a progressive loss of neurological function in infants, children and sometimes adults. They affect about one in 7,000 births.

After failing his hearing test, doctors carried out a full-body examination on Myles, whose dad Alyn is from Droylsden, and noticed a click in his left hip. By seven-weeks-old, he was in a hip harness and had hearing aids.

By the time Myles was 18-months-old, he still wasn’t crawling properly and