A worried mum is praying her critically ill son will be home for Christmas despite being placed on life-support after catching a cold.

Five-year-old Carter Gates is currently being cared for in the paediatric intensive care unit at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

He was rushed there after initially being taken from his Gravesend home to Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, after becoming unwell.

Mum Leigh-Anne said: “He is still critical but better. Each day is very different as he is up and down but we tell him every day to ‘just breathe’.

“I am hoping this is the start of the path home in time for Christmas. It is going to be a long ride but hopefully, he will bounce back.”

Carter has a rare syndrome which went undiagnosed until he was four, by which time he had already been intubated three times.

At nine months, he was admitted to Darent Valley for 10 days with a cold and bacterial infection.

He suddenly crashed on the ward and was blue-lighted to Evelina.

Leigh-Anne explained: “He was born a healthy, happy baby. They did lots of tests on his airway and his brain and it took three months to stabilise him.

“We came home with a huge care plan for suctioning, home chest physiotherapy and a home ventilator.”

The youngster, who is non-verbal, was diagnosed with muscle weakness, unsafe swallowing, and global developmental delay.

He is dependent on the ventilator to breathe due to numerous conditions affecting his airways.

After four years, the family was given the full diagnosis of ARID1B Syndrome – an ultra-rare condition which is caused by a gene defect.

Leigh-Anne, 37, added: “I thought a diagnosis would help but as it is so rare with not a lot of information on it. It means we have to continue to do what he needs and follow his signs.

“He is a very cheeky, happy little boy, who loves nature. Unfortunately, we have to be very careful as he is very vulnerable to viruses.”

For the past three years, Carter has been on a ventilator at home and was hoping to move onto oxygen in January but has since been hospitalised again.

He has been in hospital since Monday last week after he caught RSV – a common, contagious virus – which has caused difficulties with his breathing.

Leigh-Anne added: “He had a cold all week and was managing it at home but then he just could not cope.

“He was fine the night before but the following morning he just went into respiratory failure.

“I took him to the hospital and was told he would have only had about two hours. It was the first time he had to be put on life support in front of me.

“It was traumatic to watch. It is heartbreaking seeing him like this.”

Carter was intubated and then transferred to Evelina where he was on life support for a week before being moved onto a ventilator on Friday.

“He is a little bit sad because he is not at home but he is managing. He has his iPad. It has been tough, it is just a rollercoaster of emotions,” Leigh-Anne added.

Carter is in Year 1 at special needs school Ifield School in Cedar Avenue, Gravesend, and has received an outpouring of support from the community.

Cards and gifts have been sent to his home in Livingstone Road, which his dad Derek Whiffin has been bringing with him on daily visits, and to the Ronald McDonald House in London, where Leigh-Anne is staying.

The mum-of-five added: “All the cards are being put in a memory book for him. It has been so nice to have the community’s prayers and support.

“We do not know if there is a life expectancy with his syndrome but I hope he has got the rest of his life.

“We want him to have the best chance. I want him to be known and remembered.”