A Skegness mum has spoken about her son’s rare immunodeficiency – and thanked those who supported a crowdfunder for him.

Eight year-old Clay Bishop has a rare hereditary condition called STAT1 gain-of-function (GOF) – which compromises his immune system and leaves him with painful skin infections.

His mum Danni Lea was born with the same condition, symptoms of which developed in a way now being mirrored by her son.

Astonishingly, after years of misdiagnoses by doctors, it wasn’t until the pair appeared on TV’s The Bad Skin Clinic that a formal diagnosis was made – when Danni was aged 25 and Clay was just two.

placeholder image — Clay pictured with his mum, Danni-Lea.

Speaking about their time filming for the docu-series featuring renowned dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne, Danni said: “We saw Dr Emma and she was the one that referred us to Great Ormond Street Hospital and Royal Free London to do genetic testing. When we were diagnosed, there were only 420 known cases.

"We applied because doctors just kept saying the same thing to Clay that they said to me growing up – that it’s persistent thrush. But I wanted to know why it was happening.”

In both their cases, symptoms began in infancy – leading to difficulties with various day-to-day activities.

"Like myself as a child, Clay struggles to eat certain foods due to texture, acidity and flavours because he has constant oral thrush which is painful,” explains Danni, now 31. “It’s painful to brush his teeth as it inflames his gums, and the skin on his cheeks is really sore too. He also has pain in his fingers due to his nail infections, especially when it’s cold, and other bad skin infections which itch and bleed and spread.”

Clay pictured with his little sister Ocean, who did not inherit the condition.

The youngster recently had an operation to fit a surgical line – due to his fear of needles and the number of ongoing treatments he still requires.

“He’s facing one to two months of daily IV treatment and hospital trips,” Danni explained. “Because it’s so rare there’s no actual treatment and it varies from each patient. So it was just a case of trial and error to find what works for his body.”

Such is the severity of his condition that Danni recently decided to take Clay out of school due to the risk of catching viral illnesses which she says can “shut down his body.”

“Clay attended Richmond Primary Academy up until two weeks ago,” she explains, “but I decided to home educate him. He has tonnes of medical appointments and days off sick, so his attendance wasn’t great.”

Danni as a baby. Like Clay, she has also suffered with symptoms of STAT1 gain-of-function since infancy - but wasn't diagnosed until her mid-twenties.

Danni set up a GoFundMe page with a target of just £50 to buy Clay a new Lego set “for being so brave”. But with donations so far reaching £374, the family say they are hoping to donate some of the money to Queen’s Medical Centre’s children’s ward, where Clay has received treatment.

“We have raised more than expected,” Danni said. “The GoFundMe was just to show Clay how much kindness there is in the world and make these difficult months a bit brighter for him. So I am very grateful to everyone that’s supported us so far, it means a lot.”