Showbiz

Katie Price reveals her son Harvey, 22, is starting a course of Ozempic-style weight-loss jabs ‘to save his life’

Katie Price reveals her son Harvey, 22, is starting a course of Ozempic-style weight-loss jabs ‘to save his life’

Katie Price’s son Harvey, 22, is to begin using weight loss jabs in a bid to help improve his life.

The TV star, 46, has revealed her eldest son, who weighs 28 stone, will start a course of an Ozempic-style jab after consulting her son’s doctors.

Harvey is blind, autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia, a learning disability, and has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder. 

A recognised symptom of Prader-Willi syndrome is a constant hunger and Katie fears her son may die without further intervention after trying a number of different weight loss strategies over the years. 

Speaking to The Sun to raise awareness, Katie explained that Harvey’s doctors have advised he may be taking the jabs for up to two years.

‘It’s really, really serious and life-changing for Harvey,’ she said. ‘He’s at risk of a heart attack, and because of his condition, he’s not getting any smaller. He’s putting on weight. It doesn’t matter what we do.

‘So the doctors are doing it to give him a better, longer life, and for his health.’

Katie Price 's son Harvey, 22, is to begin using weight loss jabs in a bid to help improve his lifeT

Katie Price ‘s son Harvey, 22, is to begin using weight loss jabs in a bid to help improve his lifeT

The TV star, 46, has revealed her eldest son, who weighs 28 stone, will start a course of an Ozempic-style jab after consulting her son's doctors

The TV star, 46, has revealed her eldest son, who weighs 28 stone, will start a course of an Ozempic-style jab after consulting her son’s doctors

The mum-of-five added: ‘The good thing about starting him on the drug is, if it has any effect, you can stop it because you do it weekly. We’ve tried food, he’s had dieтιтians, it’s just the way he is.

‘They want to try him on it for at least one or two years, which is a long time, but they’ll control what level he needs then up it as they ᴀssess it.’

Katie has publicly advocated for her son’s needs since his birth. 

Last year she was left devastated after her local authority refused to fund Harvey’s care because he has ‘no healthcare issues’ – months after she was forced to withdraw him from a £350,000-a-year college amid her bankruptcy woes.

The former glamour model revealed how an ᴀssessor concluded that her 22-year-old son ‘only needs social care’.

Katie filmed his move into National Star College in Gloucester in 2021 as part of BBC documentary Katie Price: Harvey and Me.

It featured highs and lows for Harvey as he adjusted to living without his mother for the first time in his life.

Katie has raised Harvey, whose father is former footballer Dwight Yorke, alone.

Harvey is blind, autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia, a learning disability, and has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder.

Harvey is blind, autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia, a learning disability, and has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder.

She took Harvey to a GP when he was just a few weeks old, after a health visitor noticed he struggled to follow a light with his eyes.

But Katie has previously said was stunned by the treatment she got from the GP when he was first diagnosed as blind.

She said on the Anything Goes podcast with James English: ‘I remember sitting there with my mum and he [the doctor] was getting all his stuff out looking in his eyes and then suddenly just went, as blatant as this, “yeah he’s blind, yeah he’s blind”.

And me and my mum looked at each other and were like what “is he definitely blind?” And he [the doctor] went “yeah he’s blind” and we were like, “right”.

‘He goes “yeah, so sorry about that” and we just sat there like right. And that was it.

‘We just left the room, no like ‘”oh we can give you advice or there’s these people you want to talk to.”

‘We walked out the room, like that it he’s blind, now what? We’ve just be left in limbo.

‘On the way home my mum was really upset and I just couldn’t believe he was really blind.’

Speaking to The Sun to raise awareness, Katie explained that Harvey's doctors have advised he may be taking the jabs for up to two years

Speaking to The Sun to raise awareness, Katie explained that Harvey’s doctors have advised he may be taking the jabs for up to two years

Katie previously claimed that Harvey’s father and former Premier League footballer Dwight Yorke has only seen his son nine times since he was born.

When Katie first fell pregnant with Harvey, Dwight denied he was the father until a DNA test proved his paternity.

Asked how many times Manchester United legend Yorke has seen Harvey, Katie responded: ‘I think he’s seen Harvey about nine times in his life.’

She added that ‘I don’t think he liked it that I was with Pete [Andre] and claimed: ‘I don’t know whether it’s because he couldn’t have me or Harv, to this day I don’t know.

‘I’ve tried to send him pictures of Harvey on Instagram, Harvey playing the piano, he just ignores everything. He doesn’t want to know. But the door is always open, always.’

WHAT IS PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME?

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic condition that causes problems including constant urges to eat food, restricted growth and reduced muscle tone.

Other potential issues include learning difficulties, lack of Sєxual development and behavioral problems such as tantrums or stubbornness.

The rare condition, which affects one in every 15,000 children born in England, is caused by a defect on chromosome number 15 – and happens by chance.

Because there is no cure, treatment aims to manage the symptoms – with parents of sufferers urged to get their children to stick to a healthy, balanced diet.

Children with the syndrome can eat up to six times more than children of the same age – and still feel hungry.

It was first described in 1956 by Swiss doctors A Prader, A Labhart and H Willi. 

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