There is no way of knowing what the future holds for Valentina

A dad thought his baby's disinterest in toys was due to teething only to learn she had the same deadly brain disorder that killed Coleen Rooney's sister. Cesar Garcia Torres said his one-year-old daughter Valentina Garcia Munoz, started losing interest in her toys she 'used to love' in August last year.

The 38-year-old became worried when he and his wife, Virginia Munoz Rucian, 36, noticed their 'cheeky' baby then stopped clapping when she was happy. The civil engineer says Valentina stopped hitting milestones and was working with a physiotherapist in September who referred her to community paediatrics.

Anxiously awaiting answers, Cesar and Virginia flew Valentina to Spain to see a private neurologist in November, where they discovered she may have Rett syndrome. After undergoing genetic testing back in the UK, Valentina was diagnosed with Rett syndrome on December 18, a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development and causes severe physical and mental disability.

Now, Cesar is fundraising for Reverse Rett, a UK charity that has supported them since getting Valentina's diagnosis. Cesar, who lives in Edinburgh, said: "She used to be very interested in toys, we have a big music board she used to love but then that disappeared.

"She had a wooden board with little pieces of wooden fruit as well and she used to love picking those up with her hands and again she lost interest in that. She used to clap her hands as well when she was happy and that's something she also stopped doing.

"At the time she was also teething very badly so we thought it could be because of the teething. She's never crawled or she's never walked or when she has talked it's been very mixed words. I remember she could say 'gaga' to refer to our cat but then she lost certain skills.

"You have your family and friends saying 'don't worry, children sometimes take a bit longer' but you know as a parent that there's something not right. We couldn't imagine it could be a rare disease. You think that something's wrong but you can't imagine it's as bad as something like Rett syndrome."

According to the NHS, Rett syndrome affects around one in 10,000 girls, which results in severe mental and physical disability and there's currently no cure. Coleen Rooney's 14-year-old sister Rosie McLoughlin had Rett syndrome and died in 2013 after a lifelong battle with the rare genetic disorder.

Describing the condition as having a 'spectrum of severity' Cesar said they're uncertain as to what Valentina's future will look like. Cesar said: "Every case with every girl is different but Valentina for example she cannot walk, she can't sit by herself, she can use her left hand, her right hand a little bit as well.

"She's very good at keeping eye contact, which other girls for example can't. She's very smiley, very engaged in conversations. We don't know where she's going to get to, what she's going to be able to do and not to do. We just need to offer her the best support. We don't know what she is going to achieve in terms of communication.

"She may develop scoliosis. There's also a risk of epileptic seizures, there's breathing difficulties. None of that has appeared yet but it's something that is on the horizon if things don't change. It's a whole spectrum of severity and every girl affected is different. You need to take things day by day. It's very difficult to make plans for the future."

Although 'smiley' Valentina loves spending time with other kids her age, Cesar is now keen to get her playing with toys again. Cesar said: "She's super cheeky, she's always smiling. She's very social, she loves spending time with other kids around her age. She will just sit there and observe what they do and laugh and smile at what they do. That's the other thing [we hope to do], to try to get her interest in toys back."

You can donate to Cesar's GoFundMe here https://www.gofundme.com/f/raising-hope-for-valentina-for-every-girl-with-rett