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Parents sat with dying son, 26, as a house fire ravaged their home

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Parents sat with dying son, 26, as a house fire ravaged their home

Family home is destroyed by fire while parents sit at their 26-year-old dying son’s hospital bedside

  • Sharon and Phil Acreman were sat in hospital with son Bleddyn on July 23
  • Bleddyn ‘quickly and unexpectedly’ died, leaving the parents devastated 
  • Their home in south Wales had also caught on fire, leaving it uninhabitable 
  • Mr and Mrs Acreman now live in a caravan while they try to get back on their feet 

By Henry Martin For Mailonline

Published: 08:10 EDT, 3 August 2019 | Updated: 12:09 EDT, 3 August 2019

Bleddyn, 26, succumbed to the rare genetic condition he was born with – Duchenne muscular dystrophy

A couple have been left devastated after their house burned down as they were sat beside their dying son in hospital.

Sharon and Phil Acreman sat with son Bleddyn, 26, on July 23 while he was struggling with the rare genetic condition Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which causes loss of movement, weakness, and eventually, death. 

As the couple supported Bleddyn in the final stages of his life, their other son Jason alerted their neighbour who then rang the parents to deliver the terrible news that their family home in Rhondda, south Wales, was being torn apart by a fire.   

By the time Mrs Acreman arrived home 30 minutes later, nearly everything at their house in Penygraig had been destroyed, and five days later Bleddyn passed away in hospital, WalesOnline reported.  

Mrs Acreman said: ‘My son, Bleddyn, was rushed into hospital a fortnight ago last Monday with breathing difficulties.

‘He was coming on really well and then on the Sunday morning, quite quickly and unexpectedly, he passed away.

‘He was doing fine, then all of a sudden, his heart couldn’t take it any more.

‘The age limit for his condition is 26. Unfortunately, he was 26.’

The couple were left ‘devastated’ at the loss of their son, and the fire at their home left them with ‘nothing’. 

Most of the upstairs was left completely ‘unsalvageable’, but Bleddyn’s bedroom downstairs was left intact. 

Sharon and Phil Acreman sat in hospital with their son Bleddyn as their home in north Wales was set ablaze

Most of the upstairs was left completely ‘unsalvageable’, but Bleddyn’s bedroom downstairs was left intact (pictured: Inside the family’s home)

The parents are now staying in a cramped caravan while the four other sons, Ieuan, Carwyn, Jake and Jason live in different home while the family tries to get back on their feet. 

Mr and Mrs Acreman are ‘gutted’ that they have to spend this sensitive time in their lives away from the rest of their family, but say they are deeply touched by efforts from the local community to help them.  

Mrs Acreman said Bleddyn had learned to drive five years ago before he became very ill, passing out while on a driving test, leaving him on life support for weeks. 

Bleddyn was born with the genetic condition, but the family did not know about it until he was four. 

The couple were left ‘devastated’ at the loss of their son, and the fire at their home left them with ‘nothing’

Mrs Acreman said Bleddyn had learned to drive five years ago before he became very ill, passing out while on a driving test, leaving his on life support for weeks

He walked until he was ten years old but then had to go into a wheelchair because it was ‘dangerous’ for him to be walking.  

His funeral will take place August 12, at Coychurch Crematorium in Bridgend.

A spokeswoman for Rhondda Housing Association told WalesOnline the Acremans’ property had sustained ‘significant damage’ due to the fire, and it was not currently habitable. 

The cause of the fire was said to have been accidental.  

WHAT IS DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY?

Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy is a rare disease. 

DMD is caused by an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact. 

The first symptoms are usually seen between three and five years of age and worsen over time. 

Life expectancy is usually in the 20s, though more and more sufferers are living into their early 30s.  

The disease often occurs in people without a known family history of the condition and primarily affects boys, but in rare cases it can effect girls. 

DMD occurs in about one of every 3,500 male infants worldwide.

The disease causes loss of movement, weakness, and eventually death.

The disease is mainly in boys and affects one in 3,500 infants worldwide. 

It is a severe type of muscular dystrophy and symptoms usually begin between three and five years old and worsen until a patient can no longer walk and function on their own.

More than 90 per cent of patients are wheelchair-bound by 15. 

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is carried on the X chromosome and is a recessive gene. 

It occurs almost exclusively in boys as female shave two X chromosomes which greatly reduces the likelihood of the disease. 

In boys, only the one gene is needed to produce the illness where as girls would need to have two chromosomes with the faulty gene.

This would only be possible if a male sufferer had a child with a female who was a carrier of the condition.   

Women can be a carrier of the illness with no symptoms.

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