CJD dad's Disney dream comes true
A 25-YEAR-OLD West Norfolk dad who has the human form of so-called Mad Cow Disease has had his dream holiday with his family - thanks to local support.
Dad-of-two Dean Burrell is among the youngest in Britain to have contracted vCJD or "variant" Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fast-acting debilitating disease which affects movement, actions and memory.
It was when Dean was still 24 - just two days before his 25th birthday - when doctors first suspected he had the disease, which has only affected around 200 people in Britain in the last 30 years, his wife, Sarah (23), previously told the Lynn News.
Fundraising then started to enable Dean, dad to Chloe (4) and Charlie, nearly two, to go on a trip of a lifetime to see Manchester United.
Over 4,000 was raised for the family, of Northgate, Hunstanton, though tickets for a Man Utd game against Aston Villa in December were sent to Dean, meaning the family could then concentrate on their other wish - taking him to Euro Disney.
And, recently, the trip has become reality. Dean, together with Sarah and the children, spent four days at the French resort and had the time of their lives, Dean's mother, Marie Dugard, said. The holiday was thoroughly enjoyed, said Mrs Dugard, adding that the family could not thank local people enough.
Unable to fly because of Dean's on-going condition, the family travelled by Euro Star to the resort. Other family members also went, though paid for themselves.
It is thought as little as one meal of contaminated meat could have given Dean the condition, which he must have contracted between birth and the age of 12.
It was 1996 when it was discovered the disease had jumped to humans and the decision was made to remove tissue from beef, such as the spinal chord, which may have carried the agent that causes CJD. No case of vCJD has been identified in the UK in individuals born after 1989.
Dean, a scaffolder who used to work at Narford in Swaffham, is unable to work and Sarah gave up her job at Old Hunstanton's Le Strange Arms Hotel to look after him. The couple only married last July. Sadly, Dean's prognosis is poor, his condition constantly deteriorating.
Mrs Dugard is desperately trying to get hold of some tickets for Dean to attend the Six Nations rugby championship. Anyone who can help is asked to ring her on 01553 676030.
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Thursday 02 September 2010
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