A STANDING ovation was given to a courageous little boy who has been battling a rare condition which left him in immense pain and unable to walk.

Brave Jacob Tate was presented with an award by Alistair Bruce OBE, Scouting Ambassador for Hampshire, at a service in Basingstoke to mark St George’s Day.

The 11-year-old, from South View, was diagnosed with chronic granulomatous disorder (CGD) in 2013 after suffering with pneumonia.

The Fairfields Primary School pupil had been a healthy child.

His mother, Lucy, said: “We watched him deteriorate over four weeks. We kept going back to the GP. He lost so much weight. He was very poorly.”

CGD, a life-threatening condition, means sufferers are unable to fight bacterial or fungal infections because of a faulty bone marrow gene, resulting in some of their white blood cells not working properly.

Jacob underwent a bone marrow transplant in May last year, to cure the condition, and spent seven-and-a-half weeks in Great Ormond Street Hospital.

He has been having physiotherapy to rebuild his strength, and last week he returned to school for the first time since the operation.

On Sunday, Jacob was presented with the Medal of Meritorious Conduct, which has only been awarded to around 20 people in the country this year.

Lucy, who watched her son receive the award with her husband Jonathan and two other children, said: “He was overwhelmed when he received a standing ovation. He said to me the night before ‘mum, I don’t think I am very brave’. He’s shown nothing but courage throughout and he’s always thinking about his younger brother and sister and other people on the ward.”

Jacob has also been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome – a rare and serious condition, which occurs when the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system.

The exact cause is unknown, but most people develop the condition shortly after having a viral or bacterial infection.

Mrs Tate, 35, said it had affected her son’s mobility and left him in “immense pain”, but added: “He’s gradually getting stronger and his immune system is starting to build up. He’s needed less and less treatment and hospital stays. His mobility is coming back and he went back to school last week parttime.

At the moment we are looking forward and things are on the up.”

She added: “He did lose all of his mobility and he was in a lot of pain but he persevered with physiotherapy. He didn’t like it and he was in discomfort but he knew he had to do it to get better and he was very determined.

“It’s been incredibly difficult.”

Lucy said the ordeal had been tough on the whole family, but said they were all there to support Jacob on Sunday.

Jacob was presented the award following the annual Basingstoke East District St George’s Day parade. It made its ways from the Top of The Town to St Mary’s Church, in Eastrop, where the service was held, attended by around 400 people.