Katie Price is set to make the emotional decision of who will care for her disabled son Harvey after she dies in her new BBC documentary.
The former glamour model, 42, has told producers she wants to discuss contingency plans for her eldest child’s care on camera for the follow up to Harvey and Me, which aired in January, in a bid to raise awareness of the issue.
Katie’s choice of who will look after Harvey, who has severe autism, a rare complex genetic condition called Prader-Willi syndrome and is partially blind, is complicated by the fact she has only been dating car dealer boyfriend Carl Woods, 32, for nine months.
Her mother Amy, 66, who helped Katie care for Harvey during his upbringing, is terminally ill with lung condition Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and has been unable to be hands-on since her 2017 diagnosis.
Harvey’s father, footballer Dwight Yorke, 49, demanded a paternity test when she fell pregnant and has not seen the lad since he was four-years-old.
Katie previously shared her hope that Harvey’s half-siblings Junior, 15, and Princess, 13, whose dad is Katie’s first husband Peter Andre, as well as Jett, seven and Bunny, six, who Katie shares with ex Kieran Hayler, would “make sure he’s ok”.
A source said: “Harvey and Me was so positively received that Katie and the BBC are keen to get the ball rolling on the follow up.
“The first doc focused almost exclusively on Katie’s hunt for a residential college for Harvey, but this time they want to take in more aspects and challenges of parenting a child with autism.
“Katie hadn’t given much thought to what would happen to Harvey once she was no longer around. It seemed a long way off and something she could put to the back of her mind.
“But this past year has hammered home how unpredictable and fragile life can be, something she knows from her family’s health dramas. It’s spurred her into making some very difficult decisions.
“It’s a topic that Katie and producers are keen to explore, as no doubt there are many parents like her who haven’t even considered how to ensure their children are looked after in the event the unthinkable happens.”
Katie was inspired to take action after sharing a petition started by her friend and autism activist Anna Kennedy OBE, which calls for disabled parents to receive more government advice and funding for “future care needs”.
The star urged her 2.4 million Instagram followers to “make a difference” by signing the petition, which now has close to 7,000 supporters.
In January, Katie made the painful admission to The Sun that she hoped Harvey passed away before her. She said: “The reason I say it is because he won’t cope without me.
“He’d be so heartbroken because I know everything about him - how he likes to be tickled, how I finish his sentences, I play the mum and dad role.
“I don’t think anyone else could care for him like me and he wouldn’t understand why I wasn’t there.”
Source: The Sun
