My son isn’t naughty on purpose, it’s an illness

Little Max is tormented by violent rages

This is boy in a million Max Blakely who has a rare medical condition that makes him misbehave.

Blue-eyed Max, four, from Greenock, might look like butter wouldn’t melt but he can fly into a fit of rage at any second, which causes him to act irrationally and violently against his will. It often sees him let out a high-pitched scream that would leave most people reaching for their earplugs.

But while many onlookers simply see this as him being naughty, Max has been diagnosed with an illness so uncommon it doesn’t even have a name.

Mum Sandra, 42, said: “It’s horrendous. Max throws these terrible tempers at the flick of a switch. He hits, headbutts, kicks, screams, lies on the ground and throws anything he can get his hands on.

“It’s embarrassing when we’re out in public because people just think he’s misbehaved and I’m an awful parent who can’t discipline my child. I just want to scream, ‘He has a condition, it’s not anyone’s fault’.”

Max was diagnosed in January with an extremely rare disorder which means tiny parts of DNA are missing from one of the chromosomes in his genetic make-up. It’s thought to be linked to either Autism or Asperger’s.

Although two other cases are known to exist in Scotland, Sandra believes Max is the only person in the country and one of only a handful across the UK to have been diagnosed with such a unique strain.

His diagnosis came as a complete shock to the mum-of-two, who suffered 12 years of heartache and seven miscarriages before having her first child Breanna, who is now nine.

Sandra said: “It’s a relief to know there’s a reason for Max’s behaviour, but quite scary as so little is known about it. Scientists have only started to detect it in the last couple of years.

“Nobody can tell us anything about how to manage it or what the future holds for Max, because they just don’t know.”

Sandra faces a daily challenge managing Max’s tantrums. She says he is unable to control his temper which flares up because he doesn’t understand or gets frustrated with everyday situations.

“He has about three a day and that’s on a good day!” she said. “Max can kick off for any reason . . . because he doesn’t like the colour of the taxi that has turned up to take us somewhere, because we’re going to the supermarket, because he doesn’t want to walk on anything black or simply because he wakes up in a bad mood.

“And when he does, I have to watch him like a hawk. He knows no boundaries when it comes to danger, so can easily hurt himself or someone else. I’ve had bruises from where he’s picked up heavy things and thrown them at me, he’s lifted a knife before . . . the list is endless.

“He’s recently started to hold his breath until he turns blue which is very frightening.”

Former auxiliary nurse Sandra first noticed something wasn’t right when Max was born, but doctors dismissed her as a paranoid mother.

“Max was physically shaky but the hospital said it was just low sugar levels. Then he was late meeting milestones. It took him eight months to sit up on his own, 18 months to walk and he only started talking when he was three. His toes are also mis-aligned which is one of the symptoms.

“I really had to push doctors for tests, but I’m glad I did. At least now we know it’s an illness. At one point I thought either he was just out of control or that I was a terrible mum!”

A spokesperson for rare chromosome charity Unique said: “This is an extremely rare genetic condition. Only in the last few years, due to advances in technology, has it been possible to detect and diagnose this disorder.”