A MAJOR campaign has been launched to send an eight-year-old Haslingden boy to swim with dolphins in Florida.

Despite numerous tests over his short life, doctors have been unable to identify what Nicholas Cosgrove is suffering from, but his constant epileptic fits and drop attacks, where he suddenly drops top the floor, have meant he needs 24-hour care.

His parents, Carol and Francis Cosgrove, have made his bedroom safe with soft toys which were purchased thanks to funds raised by Carol's colleagues at the Inland Revenue.

And it is Francis's colleagues at The Lewis Group in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, who have set about raising the £8,000 needed to send the family to Miami for a fortnight, so Nicholas can swim with the dolphins at the Seaquarium. Already, a host of events including a raffle, bonfire party and Christmas party have been held and are planned and the fund is currently stands at nearly £2,000.

Carol said: "Nicholas enjoys water play and sand. He likes the sensation of sand running through his fingers, although this can become very repetitive and obsessional. "Nicholas is an attractive eight year old, very strong and very active. He has no sense of danger and requires total care.

"He has serious and profound communication problems and is not able to make his needs known. We have to guess at what he wants and the reasons for his apparent distress."

Until he was 10 months old, Nicholas was seen as a normal little boy, but one day he had an epileptic seizure and since then the seizures, of many different types, have continued every day. He has to wear a helmet to protect himself from injury and also because he likes to climb and walk off the end of furniture with no understanding of the consequences.

Scans have shown Nicholas, of Yarmouth Avenue, has no identifiable brain injury, but the brain activity is disorganised.

Carol said: "Nicholas is a strong-willed little boy and, when his mind is set, it takes a lot to focus him on something else."

The family is certain the therapeutic value of swimming with the dolphins will help Nicholas' condition and anyone who wants to help with the campaign can contact Carol on 01706 223587.

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