FOR a year William Hickman’s parents Kevin and Charlotte fought to find out why he was continually ill or in pain.

They visited 13 GPs and had what they described as a nightmare 12 months before a private consultation diagnosed him as having a rare genetic disorder and meant he could start getting the appropriate treatment.

The couple, from Abingdon, last night spoke about their two-year-old son’s case to raise public awareness of genetic disorders for Jeans for Genes Day, which takes place tomorrow.

Mum-of-three Mrs Hickman, 33, said William had seemed entirely healthy at birth.

She said: “When William was born in March 2008 he was absolutely fine, but after a few days he developed an infected groin and nails.

“But it was cleared up with antibiotics and we thought nothing of it.”

Over the next year, William developed a string of illnesses from bronchitis and chest and ear infections to diarrhoea and weight loss.

Often he would be in hysterical pain and hitting his head against the wall, which Mrs Hickman said was distressing for the family.

She said: “I was just knackered, he would only sleep for an hour at a time and he was taking medicine twice a day for weeks at a time.”

But a string of local doctors could not diagnose what was wrong.

She added: “We saw 13 GPs in total and none of them could tell us what was wrong with William. They mostly told us it was because he had two older brothers and was catching germs from them.”

Eventually, after William spent more than a week with vomiting and diarrhoea, his mother decided to take matters into her own hands.

She researched his symptoms on the Internet and William’s grandfather paid for a private consultation.

William was finally diagnosed with X-Linked Agammaglobulineamia (XLA). It means his body does not produce enough antibodies, so even a common cold could develop into a fatal infection.

Now he has been diagnosed and is getting weekly treatment, William is as active as any other child.

Mrs Hickman said: “He can now lead a totally normal life.

“I don’t blame my local GP at all because I never saw him on a regular basis due to William always getting ill at night.

“But had they known more about the condition, he could have got diagnosed earlier – we need to raise awareness so other parents can be spared this.”

Mrs Hickman is supporting the charity Jeans for Genes, which provides funding for research and support into genetic disorders.

Tomorrow’s Jeans for Genes Day will be the campaign’s 15th anniversary.

People are encouraged to leave their uniforms and suits at home and wear their jeans to work or school in return for a donation.

The charity has now raised £35m for genetic disorders, which affect about one in 25 children born in the UK.

Fundraising packs are available at jeansforgenesday.com or by calling freephone 0800 980 4800.