'You pray it won't be you': Mother's heartbreak as five-year-old son given months to live
"There is no way to describe it. The hope of there being something, anything, that can help is what you cling onto as a parent."
The heartbreaking words of Rebbekah Collins, who has been told her five-year-old son Ben has just months to live.
What started with a swollen finger resulted in Ben being diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of cancer, at the age of three.
Since then Rebbekah and her husband Lee, from Brierley Hill, have tried everything to try and help their son beat the disease.
WATCH: Rebbekah describes 'hell' of being told the news
They were dealt the cruellest of blows last year after Ben went into remission following an initially successful medical trial - only for the cancer to return.
Another trial failed, leaving them with no more options and experts have said Ben has between two and six months to live.
The first sign something was wrong came in August 2015 when Ben's finger swelled up - but never did Rebbekah suspect Ben could be seriously ill.
She said: "I thought he hasn't hurt himself or caught it in anything so I took him to out of hours and got sent to a paediatrician for an assessment."
Various tests were carried and in March 2016 the Brockmoor Primary School pupil was diagnosed as having the illness.
Rebbekah said: "The room closed in. I was nervous anyway because it was only a couple of days earlier they set up the appointment.
"But it didn't occur to me it could be cancer. It's the last thing you think."
The full-time mother described the gut-wrenching moment the couple were told there was no hope left.
She said: "There are no words to describe it - suddenly being told there is no hope.
"To be told your little boy you have given birth to, made every choice in his interests and put him through so much and it hasn't worked, you think 'why?'"
The devastated parents are now focusing on enjoying what time they have left with their son.
Friends have rallied around and taken on the heartbreaking mission of raising funds for Ben's funeral - as his mother was concerned she would not be able to afford a decent burial.
"What I worry about most is I won't be able to afford to bury my child with dignity. I have had to look at the costs of it - it's the sort of thing you have to prepare yourself for. I was to give him the best I possibly can."
Rebbekah is now determined to raise awareness of the importance of bone marrow and blood donations in order to give sick children and adults a fighting chance of beating such diseases.
She said: "We need people to sign up to the bone marrow register and to give blood. It is the two things children and adults need."
A crowdfunding page has so far raised more than £700. Donations can be made at justgiving.com.
