Kyle's fundraising campaign for family holiday for terminally ill mother

Those are the words of a terminally ill mother who has been overwhelmed by support after her autistic son launched a campaign to send her on her last holiday with her family.

The 'Kyle's Dream' campaign is gathering pace in the Black Country as inspirational cancer sufferer Louise Glover continues to defy the odds.

Louise Glover, from Bilston, was told in May 2013 that she had just 12 months to live but continues to battle against the disease more than two years on.

Now the campaign started by 16-year-old son Kyle has been backed by dozens of people and is continuing to grow.

Money is coming in thick and fast, with local businesses having also dipped into their pockets. Word is spreading fast in Tipton, where Louise's brother-in-law Lee runs the Tilted Barrel pub. Most remarkably, eight-year-old Angel Cox raised more than £500 by selling her own toys from a stall in her front garden.

Mother-of-six Louise said she has been stunned by the level of support she has received as news of her condition continues to spread.

Various fundraising events are organised for the coming weeks including a conga line that will travel to several pubs in Tipton.

Louise, of Moseley Road, admits the last two years of her life have been a 'nightmare'. She ignored a lump on her foot for two years as it wasn't giving her any pain, but when it started to hurt in 2013 she decided to see her GP.

She was originally told it was probably just a varicose vein but, not satisfied with the diagnosis, Louise insisted on getting a second opinion and was sent for a scan at New Cross Hospital.

The lump was removed and, after a tantalising wait, six weeks later she was told she had leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer, and that it had begun to spread. Soon after she was told there was nothing that could be done and was given a year to live.

"It hit me like a tonne of bricks," she said. "I thought 'what's going to happen next, I've got six kids'"

Her latest scan revealed the cancer had spread to her liver and spine, and since the last prediction about how long she had to live has refused to hear any more estimates about her time left.

She said: "I want to enjoy what time I have left. Having been told I have 12 months to live, everything is a bonus now. I have good days and bad days, some days I just sleep. I'm on so much medication I just feel sick, I have no appetite, I have lost a lot of weight. I'm not myself anymore."

Her husband Lindon and six children, Ashley, 24, Lauren, 20, Elle, 18, Kyle, 16, Eston, nine, and five-year-old Gracie have also been hit hard by the realisation that she does not have long to live.

But some brightness has been brought back into her life through the fundraising campaign, which came about through son Kyle. The family are planning to spend a week at Butlins in Minehead, Devon. Close to £1,000 has already been raised with more expected to flood in.

Louise said: "We have only ever been on one family holiday together, to Brean Sands. We only went for three nights.

"No-one has ever done anything like this for me. An old friend who I had not seen since school donated straight away, and it's all because of Kyle."

The efforts of schoolgirl Angel Cox have also left the Glover family gobsmacked. After finding out about Louise's story through her older brother Daniel, boyfriend of her niece, Angel, a pupil at Glebefields Primary School in Tipton, was determined to help in any way she could, despite never having met Louise before.

Her mother Tina, of Sandgate Road, Tipton, said: "She came running in with a £10 note and I told her we had to do it properly. So she held a stall outside and sold her toys. I can't believe it has gone so big, I thought maybe she would raise £100. I'm so proud of her."

The total was boosted after Tina spread the word on Facebook to get yet more donations coming in. Louise met Tina and Angel for the first time last week to thank them for all they had done.

Tina, aged 42, said: "She was lovely. It is awful what she is going through."