Archie's smile moved us to tears; Pledge to ease pain for others.

Byline: SAM CASEY

WHEN little Archie Brook smiled for the first time in six months, his parents cried with joy.

The 18-month-old has a rare double brain condition which has severely stunted his development.

At one stage he was having as many as 20 seizures a day and still has to be fed through a tube.

Now mum and dad, Kirsty and Dave Brook, of Palm Street in Newsome, want to raise awareness of the support services available to other families in the same position - and collect cash for the people who are helping them cope.

Dave, 30, said: "We try not to compare him to other children, we just try to keep positive.

"I would give anything for him to be running around and playing football, but that's not going to happen.

"It's the little things we have to be happy about. A couple of months ago he smiled for the first time in six months and we were both in tears."

Archie showed no signs that anything was wrong until he was about 10 weeks-old, when he started having seizures.

Tests then revealed he had polymicrogyria, a condition which means the brain does not form properly. It affects about one in 5,000 children.

On top of that, he is missing the corpus callosum - the band of tissue connecting the two hemispheres of the brain that allows messages to pass from one side to the other.

It is not known how the two conditions developed.

They could be because of a genetic defect or an infection picked up while Kirsty was pregnant.

Kirsty and Dave do not know how Archie will be affected long-term.

Kirsty, 27, said: "We were really naive when we went to hospital and they mentioned epileptic seizures - it was a relief that they were talking like that and we thought they would be able to treat it and it would be OK.

"When they said he had absent corpus callosum and Archie would have learning difficulties, we were thinking that would mean him struggling with maths and English - not learning how to crawl and walk.

"At the beginning we felt really lost and we got home and thought 'what do we do now?'" The couple have received help from the Ellerslie Child Development Centre in Greenhead, which works with children with special needs.

They say the staff have helped Archie live as normal a life as possible.

Kirsty said: "As soon as we got in touch with Ellerslie they were great, providing physiotherapy, occupa-tionatherapy and support.

"We include Archie in absolutely everything. Just because he can't do certain things, it doesn't stop us from helping him along.

"He's a very cheerful little boy. He doesn't smile like a normal boy, but he's got his own special smile that we recognise and a huge personality. He loves being in a busy environment.

"We want him to live as normal a life as possible."

Now friends of the family have organised a charity fancy dress walk from New Mill, via Honley to Holmfirth and back, to raise money for the centre.

The event, dubbed Archie's Gift, will take place on September 12. Anyone who wants to take part can collect a sponsor form from the White Hart pub on Huddersfield Road in New Mill.

A fundraising bash will be held that afternoon, from 4pm, at the Duke of Leeds pub, on Sheffield Road in New Mill.

Collecting tins will be at various pubs in Honley, New Mill and Holmfirth.

CAPTION(S):

DEVOTED: Mum Kirsty Brook and 18-month-old son Archie