BBC Breakfast host announces ‘devastating’ news as child living with incurable illness

BBC Breakfast took an emotional turn on Saturday as Charlie Stayt and Rachel Burden announced some sad news.

Charlie Stayt announced some heartbreaking news on BBC Breakfast (Image: BBC)

BBC Breakfast host Charlie Stayt and Rachel Burden brought viewers the latest news headlines on Saturday morning. However, just minutes into the broadcast, the hosts announced some “devastating news”.

Introducing the segment, Rachel began, “Now, when the former Little Mix singer Jessie Nelson revealed at the start of this year that her twins had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, it put the spotlight on a rare and potentially devastating disease.”

Charlie continued, “She’s now among a number of families calling for earlier screenings for the condition, which can be treated effectively if caught close to birth.”

The show then cut to a clip of four-year-old Oakley and his parents, Nick and Amy, who opened up about the incurable disease and how it was affecting their family.

The voiceover began, “Oakley is four now at his local primary school and full of energy.”

His mum Amy explained, “You can’t take that for granted. You know, watching him whizz down the ramp on the side of our house in a wheelchair, shouting, ‘Let’s do this’.”

Oakley with his mum and dad, Amy and Nick (Image: BBC)

Oakley’s dad, Nick, went on, “He’s just full of life. He’s just absolutely on the go all the time. He just wants to explore, wants to learn.”

The voiceover continued, “Oakley lives with SMA, spinal muscular atrophy, detected when he was 12 weeks old. He was having gene therapy just two weeks after that.”

Nick added, “The speed of getting that diagnosis is really crucial, and then the speed of getting the treatment, it just makes all the difference.”

“Time is muscle,” Amy chimed in. “The motor neurons start dying, and it’s irreversible.”

Charlie and Rache introduced the latest news headlines (Image: BBC)

Jesy Nelson, who sang with Little Mix, has recently shared that her twin girls have been diagnosed with the condition, and she has been advocating for early detection.

The reporter added in the voiceover, “An NHS trial has now been approved. Babies are already tested for 10 conditions at birth, SMA will be added to the list. The hope is to turn that trial into the norm.”

Oakley’s mum shared her hopes, “If they were screened at birth and they received gene therapy at birth, they would be living a life just like Oakley.”

The voiceover concluded, “Oakley was given a diagnosis relatively quickly, but time is of the essence, with this incurable condition.”