Breaking News:4-Year-Old Boy Diagnosed with Childhood Dementia: ‘I Will Never Get to Hear His Voice’ details below 👇.

Tammy McDaid is raising money to get her son treatment to slow the progression of his rare genetic disorder, Sanfilippo Syndrome

By Cara Lynn Shultz Published on November 16,

A U.K. mom is racing against the clock to get her son, 4, accepted in a clinical trial to fight his rare, degenerative form of childhood dementia.

“The next year is quite critical in Tate’s life as it’s around now that things start to show,” Tammy McDaid told the BBC about her son, Tate. He was initially diagnosed with autism at age 2, but as his mom, who hails from Swansea, Wales, said, “Deep down I always suspected there was something more.”

An MRI scan in March 2024 showed spaces in Tate’s brain that were indicative of dementia, and further testing led to the diagnosis of Sanfilippo Syndrome.

It’s a genetic disorder that primarily impacts the central nervous system, and causes cognitive, behavioral, and physical symptoms, Cleveland Clinic explains, which “lead to premature death.

There is no cure, and the only treatment is management of symptoms, which include gastrointestinal and ear, nose, and throat problems, along with intellectual disabilities that worsen over time — hence the nickname “childhood dementia.”