MORE THAN £9,500 has been raised in less than a week to help a little Dunfermline boy diagnosed with a debilitating muscle condition.

Three-year-old Jamie Tierney was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) earlier this month.

The muscle-wasting illness, which is found mainly in boys, affects all muscles, including lungs, heart and the brain.

Heartbroken parents Bobbie Beveridge and Jamie Tierney have now cut back their planned wedding and launched a gofundme page to help with any future treatment and expenses after being rocked by the diagnosis for their dinosaur-mad little boy.

"Basically, it started when Jamie first started walking – he had a bit of a funny walk but it was nothing concerning. He hit all his milestones," she explained.

"It wasn't until he was just past two I had taken him for checks. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be told that it was going to be a condition he was going to live with.

"He is the happiest little boy. He loves dinosaurs, he loves being outside and playing outside with his cousins. The only thing he can't do is jump and he is slower at running than his peers. This will be how he will be for the next year or so then he may get worse.

"The information that we received is our boy will face a life of struggle, will be wheelchair-bound between eight and 10-years-old and would deteriorate in front of our eyes, with the average life expectancy of mid-20s."

Bobbie said their boy, who attends nursery at Pitcorthie Primary, is currently taking everything in his stride.

"He will stand great at his appointments, he loves getting his examinations," she said.

"We know, in a year or so, he is going to realise that he is not doing what other kids are doing. We are going to have to break it down to him that he might not be able to do things other boys and girls can and he might need support and more rests because his muscles cannot take him as far as other children.

"We know we are going to have to speak to Jamie about it and it is really tough."

Although there is currently no cure for DMD, clinical trials are being carried out and Bobbie and Jamie are keen to do whatever they can to help their son.

"There are treatments that are being used and there are trials but a lot of these are in America. This is where we are aiming to be so we can prolong it and keep him on his feet for as long as we can.

"Different clinical trials are happening. There are some in the UK but most start in America.

"We want to do anything possible but it is going to cost us money. If we can get a chance to get treatment, or even a consultation, we want to be ready and it is not going to be cheap.

"Because we are just getting a genetic report and that isn't in yet, we cannot move forward until we have that. Until we have that, we don't know what route we are going to take."

Dad Jamie, a service engineer, is planning to complete the Three Peak Challenge in August to help raise funds while other fundraiser events are also being planned.

"Initially, we set the gofundme page up on the back of his fundraiser and was going to keep it going, however, we are totally overwhelmed with the response we got. We couldn't believe it when we clicked on the page," said Bobbie.

"I cannot tell you how grateful we are. We have cried so much sad tears with the news but many tears we have now shed as well have been with absolute gratitude. It has blown us away.

"I played football and retired last year to be more at home with Jamie. I played with Spartans in Edinburgh and they have been amazing. They did an auction at their presentation night at the weekend and raised a further £400.

"My partner and I are getting married in six weeks. We were having a big wedding and then, when we got Jamie's news, it instantly didn't feel right spending all that money on a wedding when I knew how much we are putting into Jamie.

"We are now having an intimate ceremony and will have a party at night. We just need to sacrifice things.

"We want to try and get Jamie treatment as soon as possible. They say the earlier you can get treatment, the better."

Anyone wanting to help with fundraising can do so by visiting https://gofund.me/05e6b79f. More information can also be found by searching for Wee Jamie's Journey on Facebook.