When Morgan Ridler was just two years old, he was diagnosed with a complicated and rare type of cancer in October 2021.
The devastating news came after his mum Natalie gave birth to his baby sister Rhiannon, now aged one.
His parents began to notice Morgan gaining weight, which didn't correlate with his eating habits.
Whilst doctors in the NHS believed his parents were simply overfeeding him, his weight gain was a symptom that prompted private doctors to diagnose the toddler with adrenocortical carcinoma.
Natalie, 32, from Swansea, said: "When you get news like that, it's difficult not to jump to conclusions." As if that news was not bad enough, things got worse for the Ridler family when more facts emerged.
The chances of being diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma were less than one in a million, and that meant doctors discovered Morgan had a genetic condition which meant he was at risk.
Then, the entire family was tested for the condition, and learnt the heartbreaking news that Morgan's younger sister Rhiannon and their father Matthew Ridler, 33, similarly carried the gene, reports North Wales Live..
As a result Rhiannon will have a 90 per cent chance of developing breast cancer in her 20s, whereas Matthew has a 60 per cent chance of developing cancer throughout his life.
"People have a tendency to say 'you're really strong', well we don't have a choice," said Natalie.
When Morgan was first diagnosed, the family were told he would have a 10 per cent chance of surviving surgery to remove the 16cm tumour in his adrenal gland.
The tumour was attached to vital organs and wrapped around an artery, but thankfully, Morgan made it through the surgery.
But the cancer had spread to his lungs and Morgan went on to receive chemotherapy which started on December 28, 2021.
After completing eight rounds, which left him in hospital for a month after he developed viral meningitis and could not walk, Morgan was given the all clear in August 2022.
But, three months later, a scan showed that another tumour had grown and Morgan will be having major surgery again next week.
Morgan is now aged three and his mother described him as a happy-go-lucky young boy who loved to make people laugh.
Despite going through such difficult cancer treatment and having to face an uncertain future, he always seemed to have a smile on his face, said Natalie.
This made it particularly difficult to see him in pain and without any energy on his bad days, she added. "He doesn't know what is happening, he takes each day as it comes."
"The whole family gets diagnosed when a child gets diagnosed with cancer," said Natalie, who works as a physiotherapy lecturer at a university.
She had gone back to work after Morgan was initially given the all-clear and said she was unable to take any more time off.
Both Natalie and her husband Matthew, who works as a crime solicitor, were struggling financially due to the added costs of caring for Morgan.
Going back to work was difficult under the circumstances, said Natalie, who explained that it was very difficult to find the same things important after dealing with her child's life-threatening disease.
Needing to fork out for trips to Cardiff, London and Birmingham for hospital visits and having to take time off work to attend appointments with Morgan, Natalie said they were feeling the pinch - especially amidst a cost-of-living crisis which has caused their bills to soar.
On life before Morgan's diagnosis, Natalie said: "We were living quite a nice life and the kids didn't want for anything. But it's also really difficult financially to have a child with cancer. I've run out of sick pay- I can't afford not to work."
With Morgan's illness, it was important to keep the heating on as he felt the cold more easily, said Natalie.
But rising costs meant the family were hit with a huge heating bill of £680 last month.
Unable to afford such high bills, Natalie said she now had to wrap Morgan up in warm clothes and blankets to keep energy costs down.
"When your son is cold and he's got cancer you'll turn the heating on. But it feels sad that we have to worry about that on top of everything else," said Natalie. "You feel like a failure that you can't provide that."
As the family embark on the next chapter of fighting Morgan's cancer, they continue to fundraise for the charities that have helped them over the years.
Through their "Morgan's Army" social media accounts and fundraising pages, the family have raised over £50,000 for cancer charities like Ronald McDonald House, Noah's Ark Hospital Charity and the Welsh children's charity LATCH.
Natalie and Matthew also use social media to update people on Morgan's journey and have gained a large following with almost 2,000 followers on Facebook.
"You can sit there and say 'why us?'," Natalie said, who explained that although the news she often delivered to her followers was negative, she did not always feel that way.
Whilst she could not change the situation they had been dealt with, she could change her response to it, Natalie explained. "I'm the kind of person that will get up and do something, that's where the focus has come for fundraising."
Natalie and Matthew are now applying for charitable status to set up a foundation for children with cancer which will continue to raise money for families to help them get through challenging times..
Trustees of the charity will be other parents who have children with cancer and know the difficulties that come with a diagnosis.
The charity's slogan is "no-one fights alone".
Recently, Morgan was selected to be the mascot for the Ospreys team in their Boxing Day match against the Scarlets.
Natalie said her family had been Ospreys fans for years and her sister Natalia John played rugby for Wales.
Although the family had received the bad news that Morgan's cancer had come back, he still felt well enough to take part.
Following his family's footsteps, Morgan was "absolutely chuffed" to be in the spotlight and step out onto the pitch, Natalie said.
In their efforts to raise even more to help others going through similar experiences to them, Morgan's parents are hosting a fundraising dinner in May with top rugby players attending.
In the face of adversity, they continue to look after their children and help other families affected by cancer.
