The family of a teen who often begged to die while suffering constant pain from a minor ankle injury now have fresh hope for his recovery.
Alfie Scriven, 15, is living with a condition so severe it’s been dubbed “suicide disease” and has often begged to die after living with unbearable agony.
The teen first sustained what was thought to be an innocent injury whilst cross country running Kingsmead, Taunton, in April 2019.
Despite rapid treatment of physiotherapy and painkillers at Musgrove Hospital, Taunton, Somerset, his condition quickly deteriorated.
Doctors diagnosed him with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) three years ago – a poorly understood condition where a person experiences persistent severe and debilitating pain – often after a small injury.
Alfie quickly lost the ability to walk and eat, and even the slightest touch causes him intense pain after the condition spread around his body.
Despite trying a variety of medications, including strong painkillers to dampen nerve damage and hydrotherapy, Alfie, who has recently returned home from a five-month stay in hospital due to his low weight, remains in constant agony.
His mother, Hannah Walton, 46, and her husband Paul Walton, 49, from Surrey, Kent, are desperately seeking help for fundraising so they can take him to the US for a treatment called VECTTOR.
VECTTOR treatments are a form of electro-stimulation based upon acupuncture, physiology, cellular physiology, and anatomy designed to stimulate the nerves to produce certain neuropeptides essential for optimal functioning of the body.
The couple are hoping this remedy, which costs £18,000, will put Alfie into remission and are fundraising £20k to bring him to the US for the treatment.
Hannah, Alfie’s full-time carer, said: “My son has had his childhood snatched away from him.
‘’Every day is something new to worry about.
“At first I thought it would just be a few weeks, but as days turned to years, now I’m not sure when it will end.
‘’It was such an innocent injury; I can’t believe how we’ve ended up here.
“I wish I could siphon away the pain for Alfie, I feel so helpless sometimes.
“I just hope with this new machine Alfie can get better.
“He will repeat that he wants to die with every feed.
“As a mother its heart-breaking to know that your son doesn’t want to be here.
“But I understand that the pain must be excruciating.
