LITTLE 10-month-old Jaiden Jobbins of Pontypool who suffers from cystic fibrosis can now breathe easier with the aid of his new state of the art chest therapy vest thanks to the generosity of Free Press readers.

The special vest from America cost £6,995 and arrived at Jaiden's home last week (June 30).

Free Press readers have so far raised more than £14,000 for Jaiden's appeal so his parents could purchase the vest which will constantly massage his chest to break down the mucus build up on his lungs.

Jaiden's mum Teri said: "We are overwhelmed by people's generosity and cannot thank everyone enough.

"I never dreamt we would be able to raise all the money for the vest, let alone above and beyond that. I'm just so pleased people will now be able to see where their money has gone.

"We could never have managed it on our own. Before the appeal took off we were trying to raise money by selling things on eBay and putting on car boot sales, but Jaiden was so poorly we couldn't be as active as we'd have liked with the fundraising.

"Jaiden needs to grow a bit more before he can use the vest. His chest needs to be 19 inches first but we're hoping he'll be able to wear it properly when he's about 15 months.

"The vest will allow him to live as normal a life as possible."

Cystic fibrosis is a life threatening genetic condition caused by a faulty gene that controls the movement of salts through the body and causes the internal organs to become clogged with a thick mucus resulting in infections and inflammation making it hard to breathe and digest food.

Back in February of this year Free Press reported on Jaiden's plight with the disease and an appeal from his mum Teri to raise money for the therapy vest as it is not available on the NHS.

When Jaiden was born his parents believed he was perfectly healthy, as the condition was not picked up on during pregnancy scans.

But three weeks after his birth they became concerned that something was wrong after his dad Darren kissed him on the head before bed and noticed he tasted salty.

Jaiden's parents began searching online and soon discovered this was a symptom highly linked to cystic fibrosis.

Shortly after they received the bad news which doctors had discovered as a result of the routine pinprick in the heel procedure, which is carried out on every child when they are born.

Donations started flooding in from readers after the initial story including a £4,000 anonymous donation from one reader.

The appeal continues to raise money which will now go towards Jaiden's future.

JaidenÕs parents will also be making a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to help other sufferers.

Donations came in a variety of forms from a pyjama day at Cwmffrwddoer Primary School, where Jaiden's older brother Jamie, 5, attends to a daredevil skydive in Swansea, and even from as far a field as San Francisco.

To donate to Jaiden's appeal visit: maintenanceforce.co.uk/supporting-jaiden.asp