A mum has spoken of her agony as she watches her husband and son both battle life-threatening cancers.
Jean Kelly's husband Chris, 54, and 27-year-old Daniel are both fighting aggressive cancers at the same time.
The condition led to a deterioration in the two's ability to talk, walk and see.
In 2018, Daniel - at only 23 and recently graduated - was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia after he began to feel unwell and lost his vision.
AML is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes a large number of abnormal blood cells, affecting red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
The 27-year-old's vision eventually did partially return but only after spending seven months in hospital and having three extensive rounds of chemotherapy, leaving him with no immune system and also causing masses in his brain and spine.
Daniel - who Jean describes as a "handsome big lad with a heart of gold" - continues to undergo six hours of chemo every day at Belfast City Hospital.
After bravely battling the disease for nearly four years, Jean said Daniel's latest setback came on January 7 when doctors called to tell her that Daniel had suffered a bleed to his brain.
"I got a call from one of the doctors and they told me that Daniel just couldn't tell me and had asked them to break the news," Jean said.
"If you can imagine from the tip of your head to the bottom of your feet just slowly going cold. Every ounce of hope that you've held just kind of goes.
"You just don't really know what to do because he's been through so much already and this is the latest thing he has never had before.
"And as his mummy, it has been incredibly difficult to watch because there are days where his mouth is that swollen that he cannot even talk.
"I had a real wobble when I heard that news and I had to take time off work, which we can't really afford to do because there's only one person working, but I had to because I just couldn't process the news.
"It brought me back to the start when they first told us about his diagnoses and he told me that he could hear was a real guttural cry from me. He couldn't work out where it was coming from because he was blind and it broke his heart."
Meanwhile, the family was given further bad news when dad Chris was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was told it has spread in December 2020.
After undergoing several bouts of chemo and medication himself, the Ballynure man was devastatingly offered no further treatment and was told his cancer was terminal.
However, the family were recently given new hope when Chris was accepted into a clinical trial for the disease.
Jean added: "Chris hasn't coped the best because of what's going on with Daniel because that is his son. He doesn't care about himself or his situation because he wants Daniel to be OK.
"He has been so selfless throughout this entire process because even when he was struggling with his own battles, he told me to go to Dublin and be with Daniel when he needed a transplant. That's only the tip of the iceberg.
"He's so strong and such a good person. He loves his family very much.
"He has been very unwell recently but he never complains about it. He found it incredibly hard to leave his work because he takes great pride in providing for his family but he can no longer do that and that is having a huge impact on him.
"That is why I've had to work because unfortunately, we need someone in the house too because we have bills to pay.
"We have been married for 33-years and we tied the knot two weeks before his 21st birthday, so he has always been in my life.
"We have been together forever and it's very hard to watch.
"We are really hoping that this clinical trial brings us some good news because if not then, we're out of options."
The unimaginable ordeal has left the Northern Ireland mother absolutely heartbroken.
The pandemic has also meant she can no longer see her family in hospital as often as she likes, with the most recent Christmas spent over zoom.
"Not seeing him at the minute is so hard," Jean added. "We haven't seen him since December 10 and we begged for a visit before Christmas, for one of us to be able to see him because he was so low.
"We had to do a lateral flow test at the door before they would let one person in and he picked his brother to go in and see him because he told me that he didn't want to see me upset and didn't want to see me crying.
"He's such a good lad and he's 27 now and this has been his life for the majority of his 20s. Life has stood still for Daniel. He's a highly intelligent boy, he has a degree in history and he had a job but due to the illness, that job is no longer there.
"It has taken its toll on him so much that no one would believe that he was 24-stone when this started and now he only weighs nine stone.
"And it's the small things that you miss when your children are not around, especially in these circumstances. It's crippling as a mother not to be there for him as much as I want to be.
"I made curry last night and Daniel is normally the one that I would eat it with because no one else in the house eats it and I realise that I had made so much and he wasn't there to eat it.
"It's the silly things that you get caught up on but it's so very difficult."
The situation has also meant Jean has had to travel to London and Dublin over the last three years with her husband and son, all while continuing to work in the health and social care sector and looking after three other children.
That's when colleague and friend, Alish, decided to step in and set up the GoFundMe page to help support Jean and her family with any future costs.
The Co Derry woman has set up the online fundraiser to help the family at this distressing time.
Ailish told MyDerry that Jean was the most "inspirational, selfless person" she had ever met and would appreciate anybody who could "help her in her time of need".
She said: "I admire this family's positivity so much. I don't know how anybody could continue to stay positive after the many setbacks this family have had over the last number of years, it's incredible.
"Jean is a senior social worker and that means that she does so much for other families too, all while her family is undergoing this terrible ordeal themselves.
"At this important time she should be with her own family but she cannot do that because she has to continue to work because she has bills to pay and she has three other children.
"She holds so much hope in her heart and she has proved to me to be a huge inspiration because she looks for positivity in every situation and I don't think many people could do that."
Ailish added: "She should be allowed to take a sabbatical and that's why I started this fundraiser because she should be allowed to be with her own family without having any other worries, even if just for a short amount of time.
"Every moment she spends with the two of them now is very special because we live in a world where you never know what each day is going to bring. She deserves to be close to her family and be able to be there to support each other."
If you would like to find out more about Chris and Daniel and donate to their online fundraiser you can do so HERE.
You can also listen to Daniel's experience with cancer by listening to his podcast with Cancer Fund for Children here.
