Sufferer's support for young arthritis battler (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Sufferer's support for young arthritis battler

THE family of four-year-old Benjamin Anderson, who suffers from chronic arthritis, have been told to keep their spirits up by the mother of another former sufferer.

Benjamin, who attends King's Pre-School in Malmesbury, was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic oligo arthritis earlier this year.

The condition arises spontaneously in children, making it difficult for them to walk.

However, Benjamin and his parents, Karyn and Ian, have now been told there is light at the end of the tunnel by Stacey Frampton, 39, of Bonners Close, Malmesbury.

She and her husband, Christopher, 41, went through the same agonising period when their daughter, Sianna was diagnosed with the condition at just 22-months-old.

Sianna, who is now 14, has been free of the condition, which severely affected her elbows, knees and one ankle, for about three years.

Mrs Frampton, a nursery nurse, said: "We suffered because of it. You just have to stick with it.

"Sianna was about 22-months-old when we discovered what it was, but now she's fine.

"She just kept falling over and we thought it was something we were doing wrong and that's when we started worrying."

Mrs Frampton said she could not believe what the doctors told her and it was horrible having to watch her daughter dragging herself around the floor, as she was unable to walk.

She said: "The scariest thing is when they don't get up," she said.

"It was a roller coaster of doctors and X-rays, but they do grow out of it.

"She had a lot of X-rays, but arthritis doesn't show up in them, so it was a long process before they said she had juvenile arthritis.

"When they told me I just choked and said 'what?', but we just got on with it.

"I think we probably had a good six years of ups and downs, going to every hospital and taking all sorts of medication.

"Luckily with Sianna, we never had to pin her down to take the medication, because she knew it would help her walk properly.

Mrs Frampton said she sympathised greatly with the pain Benjamin and his family are going through.

"It just really touched me when I read about it, as I knew just how they felt," she said.

"I just wanted to send them my regards and tell them that it does get easier."

Ben's father Ian Anderson said: "We are very, very grateful and touched by Mrs Frampton's thoughts and we will be in touch with her."

Since June, Ben's pain has eased thanks to a series of steroid injections to reduce the inflammation, which has been particularly severe in his right knee.

Like Sianna, he has undergone tests on his eyes, as the disease leaves children with a high risk of contracting a condition called uveitis, which can leave the eye painfully inflamed.

About one in 1,000 children suffer from arthritis and, while in most cases the inflammation stops in late childhood, some continue to suffer into their adult lives.