Beneficiaries

Always Hungry

A teenage girl needs 24-hours a day supervision to stop her eating herself to death. Danielle McKenna, 14, has a rare genetic condition which means she never feels full and wants to eat all the time.

Despite her young age, Danielle, of Usworth, Washington, already weighs 10-and-a-half stone and is at risk from serious obesity-related illnesses in the future. Her mum, Ann, said her daughter, whose favourite food is crisps, would just eat and eat if she got the chance. “I never know when she really is hungry or not, because she always thinks she is. If I wasn’t there she would eat and eat.”

The 54-year-old said. “I am constantly having to tell her to do lots of exercise to try and keep her weight down. “She’ll help herself to three bags of crisps at a time and every time we walk past McDonald’s she asks to go in.” Danielle’s condition is known as Prader-Willi syndrome but she also has Angelman’s Syndrome, causing learning difficulties and problems with movement such as involuntary laughter and jerking of hands. Ann, who cares for her daughter full-time, added: “I have to look after Danielle 24 hours a day and a big part of that is watching what she eats. “But her syndrome has totally changed the way I look at food. I’m much more aware of what is healthy and what isn’t. “When she asks for fattening things, I have to say ‘no, you can’t have that’ and mostly she is well behaved and what isn’t. “She doesn’t know she’s any different and is so laid back she just seems to take everything in her stride. “She’s very happy-go-lucky and always laughing and giggling and people just love her.”Despite her conditions, the Portland School in Washington pupil enjoys swimming and playing in the garden.

Last week, the youngster got a new trike, thanks to the Evening Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund, which helps ill and disabled children in the region. Ann and her husband Billy, 61, a freelance gardener, applied to the fund because Danielle had outgrown her last one. “She had just got too big for it, but they are so expensive, there was no way we could have afforded another at the moment,” Ann said. “But it’s fantastic she has this from the Sunshine Fund. She was thrilled when it arrived because it gives her more independence and she can now play outside the house with her friends.” Danielle has two sisters, Stella Ambler, 31, and Hayley McKenna, 25. Stella has two boys, Jason, seven, and Scott, four, while Hayley is mum to Bradley, eight, Kieron, five and Amy-Lee, one. Danielle is one of many youngsters who have benefited from the Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund, which is brilliantly supported by our generous readers and local businesses.

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