Little Isaac Keighley is still only three but he’s already cheated death..and met Beatles legend Paul McCartney.

The youngster was diagnosed with the ultra-rare MPS disease when he was less than a year old.

Less than ten babies in the UK a year are born with the disorder which causes increasing physical and mental disabilities.

Luckily, it was spotted early by a doctor at Colchester’s Essex County Hospital when Isaac went for an eye test.

But the discovery left devastated parents Joe, 37, and Carolina, 32, facing an agonising life-or-death decision.

With Isaac not expected to reach his 13th birthday they could either enjoy what precious years they had left together, or risk everything and go ahead with a life-changing bone marrow transplant knowing it could also end in tragedy.

“My wife and I broke down for a couple of weeks and went into survival mode,” said Clacton firefighter Joe.

“It was a difficult choice to make. Isaac was given a 50-50 chance by the consultant.

“We had to decide whether to have several years with him, or face losing him, but have the chance he would have a much longer and happier life.”

Joe and Caroline gambled everything on the operation.

It meant moving the family to Great Ormond Street Hospital for 15 months while the tot underwent treatment after a bone marrow match had been found on the Anthony Nolan Trust’s register.

Isaac was given drugs to suppress his immune system. Later his hair fell out during a course of chemotherapy to destroy his bone marrow before the transplant could be done in July 2007.

There were some lighter moments. One day Joe was changing Isaac’s nappy in an isolation booth when Paul McCartney appeared and started singing the tot a nursery rhyme.

But the odds were still stacked against Isaac, whose immune system had been destroyed by the chemo. He caught pneumonia and the potentially lethal winter vomiting bug.

Joe said: “There were a couple of times where he nearly died in hospital from viruses because his system was unable to protect him very well.”

When a virus attacked the youngster’s lungs at Christmas in 2007, doctors wouldn’t even give his parents the odds on his survival. Somehow Isaac managed to pull through, and in July last year the family finally returned home to Brightlingsea.

Meanwhile, Joe has just completed the Three Peaks Challenge with the entire Red Watch team from Clacton fire station.

They climbed to the summit of the highest mountains in England, Scotland in Wales in less than 24 hours.

The team hope to raise more than £1,500 for the Firefighters’ Charity and MPS Society.

“The Firefighters’ Charity helped us out enormously financially, as did the station, and the MPS Society was there for the emotional side,” said Joe, of Campernell Close, Brightlingsea.

“The people of Brightlingsea have been superb. When Isaac was diagnosed it was a massive shock, but we’ve been overwhelmed by the support from the community. The fire service was also fantastic. I can’t thank Red Watch enough. They became like an extended family.”

Isaac, who has three brothers, has returned to hospital for an operation to correct his spine and also had to have his spleen removed. He still has physical and learning difficulties, but his life expectancy has been boosted well into adulthood.

“He’s a very happy child and very mischievous,” said Joe.

“You find your mobile phone in the bath or your bank statements in the sock drawer – he’s very playful.”

Joe paid a heartfelt tribute to all those who have helped Isaac and the family.

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