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Family left struggling after critically ill boy's benefits were cut as he was in hospital

Kori Parkin-Stovell, eight, is critically ill in hospital (Picture: GoFundMe)
Kori Parkin-Stovell, 8, is critically ill in hospital (GoFundMe)

The mother of an eight-year-old boy who is in a critical condition in hospital has said she is struggling to get by after her son’s disability payments were stopped.

Kerrylee Stovell, from Ripley, Derbyshire, says the government stopped her son Kori’s disability living allowance after ruling he was healthy following a heart transplant.

The schoolboy is now in a serious condition in Newcastle hospital after he suffered complications following the surgery in 2018, and his family are struggling to cope after losing £1,100 since his benefit was stopped in October.

Ms Stovell claimed their financial struggles were made worse when the Department of Work and Pensions took back a mobility vehicle they had been given and they were forced to pay for taxis to visit Kori in hospital.

On Tuesday she said her son, who suffers from a terminal condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, was having a pacemaker fitted and his condition was being monitored "hour by hour".

Kerrylee Stovell's son had his benefits paused after the government found his was no longer ill (GoFundMe)
Kerrylee Stovell's son had his benefits paused after the government found his was no longer ill (GoFundMe)

She said: "He's critical, the said his heart can stop at any point so they need to take the stress from his body.

“He won’t be moved to Newcastle just yet as he’s not stable and they don’t have any beds as yet.

“As soon as he can be moved, he will be. It’s hour by hour now.”

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The DWP has now reinstated Kori’s benefits after his mum made a desperate plea on Facebook last Friday.

The department said it was unaware he had relapsed.

A DWP spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with Kori and his family at this difficult time. His Disability Living Allowance has been reinstated in full, including arrears.”

On Friday, Ms Stovell wrote on Facebook: “DWP who stopped every penny of my son’s DLA, took our motorbility car away and said he was well and a normal healthy little boy.

“Maybe they should come along to hospital, where my son has just been admitted due to low kidney function and possibly rejection.

“Tell my little boy how healthy is he and assure me that I don’t have to watch my child possibly fight for his life again. I can’t cope anymore.”

She added the family didn’t even have spare money to pay fuel to get home to get any possessions and come back to hospital again because they took their hospital funding away.

She wrote: “I feel like sobbing. I have no fight left.”

Almost £1,000 has been raised to help Kori through a fundraiser.

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