Terrible secret a mother keeps from her little boy 'so he's not scared, so his last few days are happy'

Rhys Webster is losing his battle against leukaemia and doctors have said that there is no other treatment available for him.

His mother, Kelly Norrie, is spending every waking moment at his bedside, but cannot bring herself to tell him that he is facing death in the next few days.

Ms Norrie, from Aberdeen, said: "I don't want Rhys to be scared and unhappy; I want the time he has left to be as normal as it can be. That's why we haven't tried to explain what's going to happen.

"He has all his toys and his favourite DVDs and his Dad and I by his bedside. He doesn't know anything, it's just a routine visit to hospital for him.

"I'm hiding my tears from him because he hates seeing me cry. He'll always try to hug me and say, 'don't be upset Mummy'. I'm keeping a brave face so his last few days are happy ones. That's what's important to us as a family."

Ms Norrie, 31, and her partner of nine years, Albert Webster, were delighted when Rhys was conceived after IVF treatment. However, when he was just 19 months old Rhys, their only child, was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Abnormalities in his blood were picked up after he was tested for suspected meningitis. Despite his tender age Rhys had to undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy and 42 blood transfusions.

In November, he underwent a bone marrow transplant and tests initially found it had been a success. He was making progress and the couple at last dared to hope he would make a full recovery.

Then, during a routine blood test at Aberdeen Children's Hospital two weeks ago, it was found the cancer had returned and he was too frail and ill for any other treatment. Ms Norrie, a former support worker, said: "The terrible thing was that Rhys was absolutely fine – he was running around like every other kid.

"We always knew the leukaemia could come back, but we didn't want to face it. The doctors told us all the radiotherapy and chemotherapy he'd had hadn't worked. His little body couldn't take any more and there was nothing they could do."

Ms Norrie and Mr Webster, 39, were told Rhys had very little time left so set out to make his last days memorable. He's visited the fire station in Aberdeen, where he was given his own uniform, and took a helicopter trip. The couple were hoping to keep Rhys at home, but the pain got too much for him and on Saturday he was admitted to the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, where he is on a morphine drip.

"I expect he'll be in hospital for the rest of his life now," said Ms Norrie, who gave up work a year and a half ago to look after her son. "We don't know if he's got one day left or seven, but we're staying with him for every moment."

The former support worker has a bed next to Rhys. She refuses to leave his side, and watches his favourite Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs with him. Rhys even has his toy cars and diggers on his bed.

The term "leukaemia" describes a group of cancers involving an excess of white blood cells. The normal control mechanisms in the blood break down and the bone marrow starts to produce large numbers of abnormal white blood cells, disrupting production of normal blood cells and affecting the vital functions that these carry out.

Leukaemia is categorised as either acute or chronic, reflecting the speed of progression.

Almost all childhood leukaemia is of the acute form, meaning that the cancer progresses rapidly.

Ms Norrie and Mr Webster, an inspector for an aircraft company, are realistic about their son's imminent death, but prefer to focus on spending time with Rhys rather than planning his funeral.

Ms Norrie said: "We're just keeping a brave face, for his sake and ours. There's plenty of time to be sad in the future, but for now it's all about enjoying the time we have left together."