By Michelle Crean

The parents of a five-year-old boy are hoping to raise €50,000 to get life-changing treatment to help his development so that they can hear him talk for the very first time.

Dawid Ciemny, son of Slawek Ciemny and Kamila Smietanska, doesn’t speak or communicate with his parents and is sadly still in nappies.

His parents, who live in Courtyard Killarney, were originally given the diagnosis of Autism but say it’s much more complex than that as Dawid doesn't talk or understand them, and they say the disease has taken away his chance for normal development as he suffers from irrational anxieties, sometimes he is too weak to walk and his small body is in constant pain.

In a bid to give him the best start in life they’ve sourced specialist care in Poland but it comes at a cost of €5,000 per treatment every six weeks for the little boy who currently attends the ASD Sunshine Class in Holy Cross Mercy School.

“In the beginning we had a diagnosis of Autism but it is something else,” his father Slawek explained to the Killarney Advertiser.

“We were looking for four years to see what was going on. He goes to a psychologist and speech therapist. He has autoimmune encephalitis and treatment is very expensive. We will need to go to Poland for immunotherapy. The treatment is every six weeks for three days and it costs €5,000 per visit.”

He said that the treatment may or may not work for Dawid but they have to try it to give him the best possible future.

“We have to go to Poland to try. Some kids get better after – but we have no guarantee and he could stay the same like now. He doesn’t speak, he doesn’t understand what we say. He is still in nappies. He is still walking, physically he is OK.”

Dawid will begin treatment in April 2022 if they are able to raise the funding. To help go to GoFundMe: 'The disease has taken control over Dawid !'