She’s been through so much with him and last week Katie Price spoke about her fears for her 18-year-old son Harvey, after he apparently reached almost 29 stone in the last couple of months. Doctors have warned that Harvey’s health is “critical” and that he is likely to have a heart attack if he doesn’t lose weight soon.
“He needs to lose weight or he’ll end up dead,” Katie said in a heartbreaking interview. “He doesn’t deserve that. I don’t want to lose him. He’s only 18, he’s got his whole life ahead of him. I will do anything to help.”
Harvey, who is autistic, also suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome, which – amongst other things – causes excessive hunger. Katie called it, “a cruel illness”, admitting that she feels guilty for feeding him as she is adding to the problem, but revealing that if she withholds food from Harvey, he can get violent.
“I’ve had to re-plaster my walls because he’ll bash holes in them with his head… People say to me, ‘Why don’t you just not let him eat?’ but they don’t understand. He’ll smash things or headbutt the walls if I say no to him.”
Earlier this year, Harvey was rushed into hospital with breathing problems and a high temperature. Katie was apparently worried he was having a heart attack. The 18 year old remained in intensive care for ten days due to the “complex” nature of his medical needs.
Harvey has multiple health issues which 42-year-old Katie has had to contend with since she was left to raise him alone by ex-footballer Dwight Yorke. Katie also went on to have four more children – Junior, 15, and Princess, 13, Jett, seven, and Bunny, six, who all dote on Harvey.
In the interview Katie said, “I play the mum and dad role to [Harvey], so I am protective. He is a unique child and he’s very special.” She also called Dwight, “a disgusting human for not wanting to know his son”.
The former glamour model – who is have to learn to walk again after breaking both feet in July – now says she’s on a mission to get Harvey healthy. She recently asked her Instagram followers for help in finding a treadmill and a rowing machine so that Harvey could continue to exercise even when the gyms were closed during lockdown. She has now said she plans to paint their gym equipment green – frog-obsessed Harvey’s favourite colour – in a bid to get him interested in working out.
“There is no time to wait,” Katie said last week. “He has to lose weight now.”
Read more in the latest issue of heat magazine - OUT NOW.