Deadly dream: Girl may not live past 10 after daydreaming was 'childhood dementia'

The Clarke family have been left devastated by Adelei's diagnosis. Photo / GoFundMe

A 4-year-old girl has been diagnosed with a disease likened to childhood dementia after her parents noticed her regular daydreaming habits.

The family of UK girl Adelei Clarke were told she has Batten disease which may take her life before she turns 10.

For months her father David and mother Hayley had noticed she was clumsier than normal, saying it felt like "the lights were on but nobody's home".

In May she then suffered a seizure. Her parents then took her to the doctor where she was diagnosed with the rare disease.

Batten Disease impacts a child's nervous system, In Adelei's case it could cause her to lose sight and forget who her parents are by 2021.

Doctors say she could be in a vegetative state by the age of 7.

David told Daily Mail the signs started as a toddler that something wasn't quite right.

Adelei is being treated by the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Photo / GoFundMe

"When Addy's symptoms first started, we just thought she was just daydreaming. The lights would be on but nobody would be home.

"She'd fall over and we wouldn't think anything of it beyond 'she's clumsy'.

"She didn't learn to talk at a normal rate so we took her to a speech therapist. They just said she was one of those kids who wouldn't stop talking once she grew up.

"But there would be times when other people would say things – the first time we really considered the possibility that something could be wrong was when her grandparents said she looked unusually vacant."

After suffering another seizure she was taken to hospital, where she then had 17 seizures in just one day.

She spent 10 days on the ward where scans revealed her brain was underdeveloped.

Her parents were then called in and received the devastating that she had Batten disease and would be lucky to live until the age of 10.

Adelei was just 4 when she was diagnosed and may not live to see her 10th birthday. Photo / GoFundMe

"There's no cure. No magic drugs that'll let her live a normal life for a bit," David said.

"Ever since she was born, my only dream was to walk her down the aisle. I didn't care about her being a doctor or a lawyer, I just wanted her to be happy and healthy.

"All those dreams I had died in that moment. All I could think is was 'Why me, why her? Why do we deserve this?"

"I've only heard her say her own name twice, I've never had a conversation with her because she only has around 30 words – and now I never will.

"I'll never hear her say she that loves me – all those things you take for granted as a parent, gone in an instant."

Adelei's parents are planning to give up their jobs to become full time carers of their daughter.

A fundraising page has been set up to help the family afford the costs of travelling to London for Adelei's special treatment.