A MOTHER is appealing for donations to improve life for her terminally ill son.

Kerrie Kemp has transformed her garden to make it wheelchair accessible for her son Kai, who has a genetic disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Kerrie, 35, dug the garden up by hand to make it level but now she is fundraising to install a summer house for a hot tub, which significantly helps 12-year-old Kai’s muscle condition.

Kerrie, who lives in Salehurst Close in Hollingdean, Brighton, said: “Last year I went around building merchants and gathered the materials and my partner and I dug it all ourselves.

“It’s a council house and they’re funding the changes we need inside the house for Kai, but their budget doesn’t stretch to the garden. It’s understandable but a real shame.

“The hot tub just helps so much with his muscles as he can move so much more. It would be great to use all year round, so that’s why we’re raising money for a summer house or a shed for the garden.”

DMD is a muscle-wasting condition caused by the lack of a protein called dystrophin, which usually only affects boys.

Kerrie said that Kai, who also has autism, can walk but he is using his wheelchair more as he gets older.

She said: “It was his birthday on Friday and it was a celebration, but it’s sad at the same time as he is getting weaker.

“He’s on steroids at the moment, ten days off then ten days on.

“Kai is really funny and cute – he’s a real character. He would do anything for anyone.”

Kerrie and her three children – Kai, 13-year-old Alicia and seven-year-old Mason – were forced to leave Hertfordshire five years ago and were in temporary accommodation in Eastbourne for three years before they were placed in Brighton.

She said: “We moved here a year and a half ago and we don’t know many people – we know our neighbours but we’re appealing for support from the community.

“It would mean so much to us.

“Life is so short and we want to have nice family memories of having barbecues in the garden together. With everything that is going on at the moment with the coronavirus, it would be great for all my children to be able to play in the garden.”

To donate, go to gofundme.com and search for Kai’s garden.