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Something unusual keeps showing up in all the many pictures of Andy Burnham - and it’s not just his now-famous eyelashes. It’s a thin blue wristband that the new PM sports on his right arm, whether in BBC interviews, announcing key national policies, or meeting world leaders. And it has a very special meaning. It’s linked to a little boy in Wigan who Burnham met a decade ago - and clearly never forgot. Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter That boy’s name is Joseph, and when he was born, his parents were told to take him home and enjoy the time they had left, because Joe wouldn’t live for very long. “It was really scary,” Joseph’s mum Emma Kendrick, 49, told the LDRS. “When Jo was born we could see that something wasn’t quite right. At first the doctors kept telling us he just had an infection. But then we were called into a side room at the hospital, and while we were waiting to see the doctor, a nurse came and threw a box of tissues onto the table. We knew then that something was terribly wrong.” Joseph was diagnosed with a very rare condition called Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia, which causes severe seizures, developmental challenges, and breathing problems, as well as other health complications. There are only around 500 people known to be living with the condition around the globe. Joe’s parents were told he had the most serious form of the condition - which has a life expectancy of around three years. Emma said: “I was terrified. Especially when Paul, Joseph’s dad, had to go back to work from paternity leave and it was just me caring for him. Joseph was having severe seizures all the time - and we knew from the doctors that any one of them could be fatal.” But time passed. Under the watchful and loving care of his parents, Joe survived the tiny life expectancy given to him by doctors. He’s now 17 years old. “It’s like he just decided not to listen to them! He just keeps fighting,” Emma said with pride. “And he’s such a happy little boy despite everything he’s going through, the constant pain he experiences, and being stuck in his chair when his brothers are running around.” It’s a characteristic she believes struck Andy Burnham too, when he first met Joe in 2013. The meeting came about because Paul, a sports journalist for Wigan Today, wanted to find his own way to support Joe - and launched the charity Josephs Goal to help fund research into the rare condition. The charity has close links with Wigan Athletics. And in 2013, Joe stole hearts and made international headlines when he was carried onto the pitch at Wembley by Latics captain, Emmerson Boyce, before the team beat Manchester City in the FA Cup Final. In the wake of the interest sparked by Joe acting as football mascot, Paul and his parents Ann and Norman planned a charity ball. That was the first time they got in touch with Andy Burnham - and gifted him the recognisable blue wristband. “He was the MP for Leigh at the time,” Paul, 49, explained. “We reached out to a few local politicians. The first ones to respond were Andy and Lisa Nandy, who gave us a bottle of House of Commons whiskey as a raffle prize.” Later that year, Burnham met Joe at a charity match with the Wigan team, and he’s sported the wristband ever since. That includes during a play-off against Manchester United XI in 2019, where the now Prime Minister was cajoled (rather easily) into coming onto the pitch as a substitute for Wigan Athletic XI. Since then, it seems Burnham is rarely seen without it. From snaps of his Makerfield campaign, to meetings with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Burnham has sported the charity’s wristband in every press and pap photo. “People keep sending us screenshots and posts online when they catch a glimpse of it,” Paul said. “We’re so glad he’s still wearing it. The biggest struggle for us as a charity has been raising awareness of the condition - because it’s just so rare. So having the Prime Minister himself representing us nationally and internationally, to support a little boy he met more than ten years ago and never forgot, it’s amazing for us. And I do think that says a lot about him.” The donations raised through Josephs Goal go directly to Dr Nick Greene, a researcher at UCL who is undertaking cutting-edge research into the condition. The research has made significant progress in gene therapy that lowers harmful glycine levels in the brain - which causes the seizures. Paul has also issued a challenge to the Prime Minister: to join another charity match next year, where Wigan is due to face off Everton, the PM’s favourite club. “If his scheduling allows it, there’ll be a spare shirt waiting for him,” Paul quipped.