A young girl at risk of starvation without KFC popcorn chicken has been given a month's supply of it by the fast-food giant.
Akira Gujadhur, six, suffers from a rare eating disorder meaning she refuses to eat anything but the bite-sized chunks of chicken.
With all branches of KFC closed during the coronavirus lockdown her parents, Raj and Hem, feared the worst.
But following an appeal for help, KFC agreed to deliver a huge batch of popcorn chicken to the family's home in Poole, Dorset.
Akira, who is autistic, refuses to eat chicken from the supermarket because of her Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
Before the lockdown, her parents were buying her two portions a day from their local KFC, spending an estimated £16,000 on popcorn chicken in total.
Akira's consultant at St Thomas' Hospital in London, where Boris Johnson was treated for coronavirus, even wrote a letter backing their appeal to KFC for assistance.
In it, he has asked the fast food giant if they were able to sell frozen popcorn chicken to the family 'to ensure her nutritional status remains adequate'.
The pleas have now been answered and KFC.
A spokesman for the company said the supply would by enough for another month and confirmed it was being offered free of charge.
A KFC spokesperson said: "We've been in touch with Akira's family and know what a challenging situation this is for them.
"We want to help out, so we're delivering some free popcorn chicken to see them through the next month.
"We hope it makes this time a little easier for Akira and her whole family."
Mr Gujadhur said: "This is very good news and I would like to say thank you to everyone involved.
"We were getting really, really anxious but now she won't starve.
"This is such a relief. We had started giving her a little bit less each day so it didn't run out."
Akira's condition originated when she suffered a severe throat infection at just eight-months-old which saw her stop eating.
Doctors advised her parents to put different foods in front of her until she selected something.
She chose a piece of popcorn chicken when she was nine-months-old and has refused to eat anything else since.
Mr Gujadhur, a senior actuarial analyst for finance firm Capita, said: "Before the lockdown, we invested in the same kitchen equipment that is used by KFC and cooked the KFC frozen popcorn chicken at the recommended temperature and cooking time.
"We were able to replicate the popcorn chicken and our daughter was eating as normal.
"We thought the lockdown was only going to be three weeks but it sounds like it's going to be a lot longer now. She could have starved to death.
"Due to her conditions, we are not able to explain to her about coronavirus or that KFC is closed."
Had KFC not stepped in, the family's supply was due to run out today.
