An eight-year-old boy living with quadriplegic cerebral palsy has become the first child in Waltham Forest to be fed real food through a tube while at school.

Sheema Luca has spent the past four years battling for her son Massimo to be fed a natural, blended diet at Brookfield House School in Alders Avenue, Woodford Green.

Due to his condition, which is a result of being deprived of oxygen at birth, the little boy is unable to eat orally and has to be fed five times a day through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube in his stomach.

As a toddler, Massimo was given a processed mixture which left him constipated and vomiting. After doing research online, Mrs Luca, 42, decided to create her own meals, using meat, vegetables and fruits, and his health immediately improved.

But because health professionals advised against the new diet, the school refused to allow the child to be fed the mixture while on campus, opting instead for the processed liquid.

Eventually, it changed its stance and agreed to the family’s wishes in April.

“The bottom line is you wouldn’t give your child a packaged meal so why would you give your special needs child a packaged meal?” said the mum-of-three of Empress Avenue, Chingford.

“When I suggested it, it was really frowned upon by the professionals but I said I’m going to do it because it’s going to help my son.

“It does take a bit longer because you have to feed him slowly but we have seen improvements with his constipation and refluxes.

“It’s the first school in Waltham Forest to do it, so now others may follow.

“What it boils down to is the professionals want our children to survive but as parents we want our children to thrive.”

Mrs Louca said her son’s nursing team strongly advised against the natural diet because his feeding tube is not licenced for real food, only the pre-packaged mix which is high in protein and sugar but low in fibre.

By making her son’s meals herself, Mrs Luca can fortify it with vitamins and use organic ingredients.

She kept a diary for six months, detailing the difference with Massimo’s health and moods during term-time when he was fed the packaged mix, and school holidays while on a normal diet.

After presenting doctors with the evidence, and with the support of a “rockstar” dietician, Jo Berry, at Whipps Cross Hospital, the determined mum finally won her case.

She now makes all of Massimo’s meals from scratch, with the help of dad Alfred and Grandma Jystena.

“He can’t walk, talk or sit up unassisted but he’s cognitive and he has a character of his own. He’s very social and he communicates by pointing with his hands or eye pointing.

“Obviously there are hygiene control issues and it takes longer feeding him real food but I’m glad we persisted – something like this is life-changing because diet is really important.

“I don’t want my son to just be existing, I want him to be vibrant. I want him to have the best quality of life and sometimes that means questioning systems in place that are not in the best interest of your child.”