Katie Price hopes her autistic son Harvey, 18, dies before her because he wouldn’t be able to 'cope without me'
Katie Price has opened up about her relationship with her autistic son as she admitted that it is her love for Harvey that kept her alive during a rehab stint earlier this year. The 42-year-old also said she hopes she will outlive her son as he “wouldn’t cope without” her. The statement of Price’s came after the 18-year-old was admitted to hospital this week after complaining of chest pains. Though the teenager is back at home now, the incident has left Price terrified since doctors told her that Harvey is at high risk of dying from a heart attack if his weight isn't reduced. The eldest child of the former glamour model weighs more than 27 stone (378 pounds) due to an excessive appetite caused by the genetic condition, called Prader-Willi Syndrome.
“When Harvey went into the hospital, I feared the worst. I always do. The doctors have told me he’s at high risk of having a heart attack. He’s 27½st, wears 5XL clothes and he gets out of breath walking up the stairs. So of course, I panicked. I can’t see him living past 50 unless we sort his weight and his breathing out,” Price told The Sun as she added: “I know it’s horrible to say, but I wish he’d go before me because he wouldn’t cope without me. He’d be so heartbroken and wouldn’t understand where I’d gone.”
Price, who is also mother to two daughters 13-year-old Princess Tiaamii, and Bunny, five, and sons Junior, 15, and Jett, six, went to a rehabilitation center, The Priory, in January this year after accepting that she was “self-medicating” with alcohol and cocaine. She said that it was the thought of Harvey only that did not let her take any extreme step. The doting mother said: “I could have gone off and hanged myself, which I wanted to do, but I didn’t because I have kids.
“I know it’s a harsh comment but it’s the truth. If I ever died, my other kids, obviously, would be heartbroken but Harvey would not understand where I’d gone. And I just think no one would look after him the way I do, and he wouldn’t understand why I’m not there. The thought kills me. I hate it. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.”
Price also talked about her son’s admission to the hospital as she said she had a feeling that something was wrong with Harvey. The media personality said her partially sighted son was not behaving normally. However, when he complained about “needles” in his chest that Price called an ambulance. “I know he’s getting bigger and I’d noticed in the past month his breathing had changed. It was at Princess’s birthday party, just after she’d done her cake and Harvey wasn’t feeling himself and had a lie-down. And then he was getting worse and worse and I thought, ‘Oh s**t’,” Price continued. “Sometimes he’ll fake things like if he doesn’t want to go to school, he’ll say ‘Harvey feels wobbly’, or he’s got a sore throat. But I know him well enough to know if he’s trying to pull a fast one or not. He said he was getting pains, and he can deteriorate quickly, so I just used my common sense, stayed calm, and called the ambulance.”
After being admitted to the hospital, Harvey was diagnosed with fluid in his lungs and a chest infection. He was discharged the same night. But for Price dealing with his complex medical conditions is getting harder day by day. “I love him, and I would never change him, but it’s constant. It’s exhausting. He knows he’s got to lose weight but it’s the Prader-Willi — he just wants to eat. He’ll steal food, and he’s on steroids that make him big. We try everything, but cutting down food is hard,” she stated.
Price added: “I’m not trying to give him a lot of food — look at my other kids, they’re not big and fat like Harvey. I don’t want him to be in 5XL clothes, or to not be able to go on proper walks without being out of breath. I don’t want that, I come from a fit, healthy family. People don’t appreciate how big he is until they see him. He can’t fit in some cars, and on an aeroplane, the seatbelts don’t fit him.”
Meanwhile, it has been said the Price along with his eldest son is filming a BBC documentary, called ‘Harvey And Me’, about living with him in lockdown. The documentary will reportedly show the mother-son duo daily life and the struggles Price faces as a single mum to her disabled son. “It is bloody difficult. It’s a constant worry, and I worry about the other kids too. I think people will be shocked when they see what living with Harvey is really like. I’m both his mum and his carer and I don’t even ask for sympathy, but it is hard work,” Price said.