A smiley and happy little boy has died following a heartbreaking battle with a rare disease.
Jace Carney was diagnosed with Krabbe disease when he was aged just 13-months-old.
The condition, which affects just 1 in 100,000 births, destroys the protective coating of nerve cells in the brain and nervous system.
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Those who are diagnosed are not expected to survive past the age of two.
Following a lengthy battle with the cruel disease, which saw Jace in and out of hospital, he sadly died on January 4 aged 20 months.
Hundreds came together in honour of him at his funeral on January 14.
Lead by a horse-drawn carriage, the procession made its way through Stockport followed by rows of cars.
Alongside his parents Scott Carney and Emma Prestage, from Northenden, friends and family lined the streets, letting off blue flares in honour of the Manchester City fan.
Rows of blue and white flowers and balloons lined the little boy’s grave at Southern Cemetery.
Also, the family received a bouquet of flowers from Manchester City FC, with a note reading: ‘With deepest sympathies from all of us here at Manchester City FC’.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Jace’s uncle Jamie Whitehead said the outpouring of love at the funeral was a symbol of how much he was loved.
“He had touched a lot of people’s hearts,” he said.
“At the funeral there was a good few hundred.
“There were fireworks, and we had flowers off Manchester City FC.
“He was a fan of City and he had videos from the various players.
“A lot of people heard about it.”
From the moment Jace was diagnosed, the family have faced an agonising few months where it was unclear what could be done to help.
“He was just crawling along when they found out about it,” Jamie said.
“It was just after his first birthday, and his mum and dad took him to hospital.
“The doctors didn’t know straight away what it was.
“He wasn’t eating or anything, then they took him to hospital but couldn’t find what it was.
“They then discovered it was Krabbe disease and there was no cure for it.
“There was nothing they could do.
“It was really bad - his mum and dad did really well.”
The extremely rare genetic disease destroys the protective coating of nerve cells in the brain and throughout the nervous system.
According to the NHS, in most cases signs and symptoms develop at around six months old, with the disease usually resulting in death by the age of two.
For Jace, all that could be done by doctors was to make him as comfortable as possible.
Jace's family said the only blessing is that he was too young to understand what was happening to him.
Previously speaking to the M.E.N, Emma’s auntie Lynsdey Sutton said: “The whole family is feeling it because we are all so close.
"You kind of feel hopeless because there is nothing we can really do."
The family want to raise awareness of the disease, as well as ensuring Jace's legacy lives on.
Paying tribute to his nephew, Jamie added: “He loved his life, he was always smiling and giggling.
“He touched everyone’s hearts and he was loved so much.”
