A MOTHER whose miracle son recently got the all-clear from cancer has spoken of the gut-wrenching moment doctors told her another of her sons had leukaemia.

Tracy Edwards said the sickening news left her absolutely devastated but she has vowed to be strong for her brave boys Callum, 11, and Shane, nine.

The family also faces an agonising wait for results as sons Scott, nine, and Kyle, 12, have been tested to see if they have the cancer gene.

"I was absolutely devastated, totally gutted when they told me Callum had leukaemia," Mrs Edwards said.

"I couldn't believe it. How could it happen to us after what Shane's been through? Why us? But then I picked myself up because I had to, I've got to just keep going for my boys and their brothers."

Mrs Edwards and husband, Philip, 51, are now splitting their time between home and the hospital as Callum undergoes a month of intensive chemotherapy treatment to battle his acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

His dad has been staying overnight at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) with him while his mum has been administering chemotherapy tablets at home to Shane, who baffled doctors last year when a scan showed he no longer had a tumour on his brain - just three months after they had told the family there was no hope.

Callum was being tested for glandular fever in hospital when doctors broke the bad news he was seriously ill.

Mrs Edwards, 33, said: "I had a horrid inkling it wasn't going to be good when his blood tests came back and the count was so low. I just knew, I had this churning feeling in the pit of my stomach and I was right."

Callum was referred to the same ward at LGI that Shane had been treated on and, after his bone marrow had been checked, doctors confirmed the diagnosis.

"What are the odds of two of my boys having cancer? The doctors have said it is unusual and very, very rare but if you are going to get leukaemia then Callum has got the best one, it can be treated and it can be cured.

"He is doing well and we are staying positive, I believe he will be cured," said MrsEdwards, who lives with her family in Miles Hill Crescent, Bierley.

Callum, who goes to the Phoenix Centre in Holme Wood, will have to stay in hospital another three weeks and faces another three years of treatment while Shane has just finished his penultimate round of chemotherapy.

"It's not easy. Shane took it really bad about Callum but we will cope together and we will get him better too," she added.

The boss of a national childhood cancer charity said the family's situation was extremely rare.

Caroline Blakely, the chief executive of Children with Cancer UK, said: "Childhood cancer is mercifully rare and, nowadays, treatment for childhood leukaemia is particularly successful with overall survival rates of 88 per cent. But there is still a long way to go for other forms of childhood cancer and treatment can carry the risk of side-effects, in both the short- and long-term. That’s why we fund scientific research into the causes, treatment and prevention of all childhood cancers.

"It is very rare for two children in the same family to be diagnosed with cancer and rarer still for it to be different types of cancer. Our hearts go out to the family at this difficult time."