One minute baby Toby is a picture of health, the next he is fitting uncontrollably and there is nothing anyone can do to stop him.

Gorleston mum-of-six Lisa Hutchinson is constantly checking on her youngest son for signs of something that comes from nowhere and seems to be getting worse.

The family has been fundraising for local good causes for some seven years, but now oldest daughter Tia Hutchinson has launched an appeal closer to home, to help her little brother stay safe.The 13-year-old known for her caring enterprise Tia’s Treasures has set up an online donation page which aims to raise £1000 for a life-saving seizure alarm for Toby’s cot.

Mrs Hutchinson, 36, said she was unsure about publicising the family’s own plight having raised an estimated £5000 to help others, but that Tia was determined.

She said that even with so many eyes keeping a close watch on Toby it was a very worrying time.

“More unusual things seem to happening more frequently,” Mrs Hutchinson said.

“He has had three proper big fits. He seems confused when he comes round but then needs to sleep it off. There is no warning. We cannot see it coming. It has been really scary, we are all a bit on edge.

“Tia is like a proper mother hen around him, she is so good even though she is only a child herself.”

Doctors were unsure what was causing the seizures and the nine-month old is waiting for tests and scans that will hopefully give the family a diagnosis.

However, nothing was likely to happen until the end of June and in the meantime it was a case of watching and logging anything unusual that could help doctors discover the cause.

Baby Toby had seemed fine until March when he had his first fit.

To Mrs Hutchinson’s relief it was said to be related to his temperature (febrile) and was probably a one-off.

Since then, however, he has had two more fits, each longer than the last.

On other occasions he had seemed to stare and go stiff and he also now seemed to have problems sitting up, a skill he seemed on the way to mastering.

Mrs Hutchinson praised the rallying response of the community with many good will messages and offers of donations.

Two of her other children Tia and Alex, 14, had both suffered fits as babies but Toby’s condition seemed more serious accompanied by a range of other symptoms.

She added that as well as a seizure alarm for Toby, Tia also wanted to fund one for Kiera Douglas from Bradwell who has epilepsy as well as raise money for the East of England Ambulance Service.