I thought my son, six, just had a cold, but 'when I went upstairs he was gone'

RILEY Jay Sheen had been poorly with what appeared to be relatively harmless cold or flu symptoms.

- LUCY JOHN Reporter [e-mail]

His mother Leanne Ralls said: "He'd had flu-like symptoms and a chest infection. He was on antibiotics and steroids, but nothing was helping him to get better."

Then, in a devastating turn of events little Riley from Merthyr Tydfil suddenly died on September 13, 2024, with his funeral going ahead on what should have been his seventh birthday.

Leanne said it wasn’t until months later that they discovered his cause of death was myocarditis caused by a simple infection.

The condition refers to inflammation of the heart, which can be caused by viral or bacterial infections among other triggers.

Most people will recover without any lasting effects, but the condition can be fatal, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Leanne, 30, said she hoped sharing what happened to her son would raise some much needed awareness.

"I don’t want any other parent experiencing what I have gone through," she said. "I want to raise awareness to open up people’s minds about the condition."

Describing how her family’s nightmare began, Leanne said: "He’d been poorly for a few weeks, but he was fine in himself other than that.