
'Our son, 9, died of brain cancer - now our daughter is fighting to live'
Two heartbroken parents who say they were trolled as their young son died of an incurable brain tumour are facing more heartbreak, with their daughter's heart described as a "ticking time bomb".
Craig Evison and Victoria Morrison have heartlessly been trolled once more as their two-year-old daughter Ruby-Rose battles against the odds to survive. The young girl has Megdel Syndrome, which impacts the body's nervous system, and the family were told she may not live past her third birthday. The grieving parents are still coming to terms with the death of their 'happy', 'very smart' and 'loving' son Kyle in 2020, who bravely battled a brain tumour for a year.
Before his death a group of family and friends came together to try and raise funds so the nine-year-old could participate in a medical trial in New York, but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented any possible treatment. With around £100,000 raised, the parents now hope to use the money for Kyle's young sister.
As well as paying for medical equipment, they hope to use it to make memories with Ruby, such as take her to Disney in Florida. But when they tried to access the money, charity Gold Geese said they could not release the funds because the donations were made for Kyle when he was a cancer patient and can now only be spent on trials for another child in a "similar" situation to him.
The parents have since revealed that they have been subject to online abuse following confusion as to why they were requesting Kyle's donation pot. Craig, 39, told MailOnline: "I don't think the general public understanding how disheartening, and financially draining having a terminally ill child is. We are still recovering from Kyle all these years later. If he needed or wanted anything he got it, because we knew the end result but regardless, we wanted the little life he had left to be the best."
Victoria added: "Kyle's money is his legacy, as well as doing things with Ruby and our other son that we couldn't do with Kyle because of Covid. It was absolutely heartbreaking because I couldn't even take Kyle to the local park just to do something together. It was the most horrible year of our lives."
Kyle's family were even sent awful messages from trolls while the young boy was dying, with one cruel person messaging Victoria to say they couldn't "wait to smoke on his ashes". Another stranger also demanded they tell Kyle about his condition, despite the family wanting to keep the information from him so he wouldn't be scared. "The abuse we received, and the things said about him and Vicky was horrible, it was disgusting," Craig said.
A High Court judge will now decide whether the money raised for Kyle can be released to the parents and used for Ruby. Gold Geese argue that the money should only be used for children with cancer, although Craig and Victoria believe Ruby's condition is 'similar' as the disease impacts her nervous system similarly to her late brother.
Craig told The Sun: "We couldn't predict what was going to happen, we are humans. Kyle sadly passed. His sister Ruby-Rose is in an extremely rare and a very similar situation. If she makes it another [month], she has outlived the hospital's expectancy. We are just trying to have that chance to make these memories while there's still time and we physically can."
The parents say the £100,000 would go towards paying for Ruby's specialist equipment, clothing, food and physiotherapy. They have set up a GoFundMe page - under the name "Ruby-Rose's Making Memories Fund", in a desperate attempt to raise more funds should they not be successful with their case in the High Court.
Explaining Ruby's condition, Craig said: "Its like your heart only has so many beats. Hers is already a ticking time bomb. [It impacts] her liver, her kidneys, she's also deaf. She struggles with basic mobility functions already. She can't sit up unaided herself. She can't eat normally, she can't maintain body weight. She struggled to get over the 8kg point, she should be a lot heavier."
He added: "I have a saying of its bad enough its happened once with Kyle, but going through it a second time is absolutely dreadful. Parents shouldn't bury their children, your kids should bury you in a sense. Its very hard."
Deputy Master Marc Glover will deliver his judgement in the High Court at a later date.

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Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Parents of twins & bro, 8 & 10, held captive in nappies in Spanish ‘House of Horrors' since Covid face 25 years in jail
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE parents of three children who were allegedly trapped in a hellish "House of Horrors" since the Covid pandemic face 25 years in prison. The three boys were found by cops after parents Christian Steffen, 53, and his wife Melissa Ann Steffen, 48, were arrested on suspicion of child abuse. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 The parents of three children held in a 'house of horrors' face 25 years in jail Credit: Solarpix 7 German-born Christian Steffen, 53 faces the charges along with his wife Melissa Ann Steffen, 48 Credit: Solarpix 7 The house was full of rubbish and pet excrement Credit: Solarpix The young German boys, two eight-year-old twins and one 10-year-old, were said to have been found in horrific conditions at the property in Spain. Each of them had allegedly been forced to wear three face masks and wear nappies - and made to sleep in caged beds, a source close to the investigation revealed. Pictures from inside the house in Oviedo showed the boys' bed frames covered in horrifying drawings while they were trapped inside blacked out rooms devoid of any sunlight. But despite the piles of rubbish and excrement inside the house it is thought that the two parents were terrified of germs getting into their home. Referring to the parents, the public prosecutor's office said it "seeks convictions for each of them totalling 25 years and 4 months in prison, among other penalties and measures". They are accused of habitual psychological violence and unlawful detention after allegedly keeping their children locked up from December 2021 to April 2025. The prosecutor confirmed speculation that the children were "locked up due to an unfounded fear of contracting some disease" at the home in the small Asturian town of Fitoria. Authorities also demanded that the parents be barred from ever contacting their children ever again, as well as pay a £13,000 fine. The parents have also reportedly recently filed an appeal against their pre-trial detention - but it was rejected, La Voz de Asturias reported. It was previously revealed that the youngsters were only saved thanks to a university professor's secret diary. Connecticut woman who allegedly held stepson captive for over 20 years pleads not guilty The female neighbour, called Silvia, handed cops a 'forensic detective' diary made up of a series of data which showed kids were being held at the Steffen's home. German-born Christian was registered as the only resident in the affluent home after he started to rent the property in October 2021. Silvia, who lives just 65ft away from the home, first jotted down claims that she witnessed a little girl playing in the garden. This later evolved into a slew of evidence as Silvia continued to note what she saw going on in the home. They included details of the days and times the curtains on the second floor moved and even when the blinds were opened or lowered. Notes even kept tabs on every occasion the man believed to be Christian left the house to meet delivery drivers or collected food deliveries. She said she never saw a child leave the home or playing around in the time since making the diary. Her suspicions continued to grow after she saw the amount and size of supermarket deliveries which the homeowner was receiving. 7 The children were allegedly forced to wear nappies and sleep in caged beds Credit: Solarpix 7 The boys were saved after four years in captivity Despite only one person appearing to live in the house, Silvia noted that there was enough food and drink to feed a whole family each time. At one point, Silvia even claims she started to hear children's voices coming from across the street. After collecting the detailed dossier, the professor handed her notes over to the cops on April 14. They started to investigate the serious accusations and soon discovered nappies were being purchased. This sparked a major search inside the property so police could see what was going on inside shortly before Spain's historic blackout. Police would go on to thank Silvia for noticing the peculiar shopping list as they labelled the spot as the key clue which helped them arrest the parents. A city hall source told respected Spanish daily El Mundo: 'The neighbour had collected evidence that during school hours no-one left the house and expressed with certainty there had to be children living there, and even claimed to have seen them. 'The shopping list was the clue that set it all off. 'It was the list of a family, not a single person, and there was something that didn't fit at all which was the striking amount of nappies.' The source added: 'Without that neighbour, the children would almost certainly have gone undetected in that house for many more years." It was also revealed that many of the neighbours didn't even realise that the house was being lived in at all due to how secretive the dad had been. 7 A skull and cross bones drawn on the bed by one of the children Credit: Spanish Police 7 The family's house in Oviedo, northern Spain Since the arrests, cops have spoken out about the horrors inside the home as well as the treatment of the young children. Police who raided the property told local press the youngsters were made to wear nappies and told when and how many times they could use the toilet. The three boys were reportedly told they could only lower the blinds in their bedrooms at 5.10pm each day after being allowed to raise them exactly halfway up the windows during daylight hours. Prosecutors say filthy diapers were even piled up in one of the bedrooms. A shocking paediatric report on the kids later identified they were suffering from 'severe constipation', El Español reports. This is reportedly due to them only being allowed to go to the toilet at specific times. An unnamed investigator Spanish media quoted said: 'The children's parents claimed the youngsters didn't know how to control their bowel movements but the paediatric report has shown that to be false.' Police say once the children were freed one of them knelt down on the grass and 'touched it with amazement'. Oviedo Police Chief Inspector Francisco Javier Lozano said: 'We have given three children back their lives.' German freelance tech recruiter Christian and his US-born wife are both now facing 25 years and four months behind bars if found guilty. They are currently being investigated on suspicion of domestic violence, psychological mistreatment and child abandonment.


Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE British mother breaks down in tears as she surveys the smouldering remains of her Cyprus villa after family was forced to flee deadly wildfires with seconds to spare
This is the gut-wrenching moment a British mother broke down in tears after inspecting the smouldering remains of her family's villa in Cyprus. Lucy Armstrong and her husband Ben have told how they were forced to flee with their toddler as flames engulfed their villa during the raging wildfires that killed two people and destroyed swathes of homes. The couple had been living in their dream home in the quiet village of Souni for four years. They married last October and were settling into family life with their three-year-old son, Ethan. But this week, their entire world was turned upside down. The blaze, which authorities believe may have been started deliberately, swept through the Limassol region with such terrifying speed that it left families scrambling to escape. Two people were killed after being trapped in their car while trying to flee. More than a dozen villages were evacuated, and at least 100 square kilometres of land was scorched in what has become one of Cyprus's most devastating fires in decades. Speaking to MailOnline after going to inspect the damage to his property, Ben, 38, who moved to Cyprus four years ago, says: 'There's nothing - actually nothing.' 'The kitchen that was there, the walls, everything is completely gone. There's no recollection. 'We had fish tanks in the house, and you wouldn't even know they were even there. It's just crazy. Describing the harrowing moment his family drove away from the fire, Ben recalls: 'It looked apocalyptic. 'The smell was horrible, and even when the sun was out, the smoke was really bad. It had this creepy orangey glow. It really was like a weird apocalyptic sunset. It was very unnerving.' Lucy had just picked up Ethan from school when she rang her husband to ask if he'd seen the smoke. At first, the couple thought it might pass them by. Ben said: 'The fire was initially relatively small, and we have seen quite a few fires in the neighbourhood over the past few years, and this didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. 'The issue with this fire was that the wind picked up and just took it in multiple directions. 'When she got home, we sat there and nothing happened, but the smoke started getting big and Lucy was following reports on social media.' Worried, the couple jumped in the car and drove to a nearby viewpoint to get a clearer sense of what was happening. 'There was a viewpoint we pulled into, and we saw the fire spreading in every which way up the mountain and across. We also saw it was starting to come to Souni. 'And that's when we decided we probably need to pack and leave - and that was just to be on the safe side more than anything. 'At this time, there were no warnings, no messages, no evacuation orders - it was our own assessment.' Now armed with knowledge of the true scale of the blaze, Ben ran back to their neighbourhood to warn others. 'They thought it wasn't that bad, but eventually they started taking it seriously', Ben says. 'Everyone started packing steadily but quickly. People from the bottom of our street were running up and shouting things in Cypriot. 'One of my friends said he couldn't believe his eyes. Everyone was panicking. No one was prepared, and we had no warning.' To make things worse, the family had no power or water due to a leak on their road. Ben explains: 'We were just doing all the packing in the dark. I told my son to get as many toys as he could in a bag for life that I gave him. 'I then told him to sit still and stay calm, but also made him aware that Mum and Dad were going to run around. 'Luckily, because of my profession, I had studio lights with batteries I could put on. Ethan also had his iPad light. 'He was trying to be calm and doing a good job of pretending he was okay. He was scared.' 'We also have three dogs, so we tried to fit everything that we could in our car. As a photographer and filmmaker, I had to gather all my equipment and hard drives.' By the time they were ready to go, flames were bearing down on their home from multiple directions. 'It was coming over the hill towards us from the back and the right-hand side. In the end, it was the fire from the side that caught our house and absolutely annihilated it. 'We left the house around 8pm, and it was pretty dark. At this time, the fire had travelled all the way down to Souni.' Ben said all he could think about was keeping his young son and his wife safe. He says: 'My son is only three and a half. I was worried about him having smoke inhalation. 'My priority as a father and a husband was to make sure my son and wife were safe. That's all I cared about. I made sure we shut all the windows and the doors in the car. 'We didn't push the aircon too high, and even when we were getting into the car, we sprinted in as fast as we could.' Although he did everything in his power to protect the family, Ben says Ethan was still affected to an extent. 'My son had a really bad fever in the nighttime, and he was shivering this morning', he says. 'I'm sure he has had some effect either from being scared or missing some of his meals, as he didn't want to eat. But he's fine now, thank God. But he was really bad. 'When we put him in the car, he could see the fire all around him.' According to Ben, the already dire situation was made worse by the lack of emergency services on the ground. He admits: 'That was one of the scariest things. We didn't see a single fire engine. They were all just at the bottom of the hills, making sure it was not coming to town. 'The support wasn't there. They were not ready. And no one warned us. If we had not made the assessment that we did and thought it was okay, we probably wouldn't have gotten all the things we managed to get.' Ben was overcome with emotion on Thursday morning when he returned to their property, hoping for the best. But his worst fears came true - their beloved home was gone. He says: 'It's quite a hard thing to put into words at the moment. My wife and I haven't slept. We almost feel quite numb and just really sad that we had all these memories and now there's nothing - actually nothing. 'Today we had to explain to our son what's going on. He told us he does not like fires because they burned our house down. He's smart enough to fully understand that he's not going to go back to his house anymore. The family is now staying with Lucy's parents as they try to figure out what to do next. Ben explains: 'We need to find out what our options are. We have never been in a situation like this before. 'We have insurance on the house, but it's not just processing that the house is home. We now have to try where we can try to get support from the government, or if there's even any support. 'We don't have a house anymore. We have to think of whether we will rebuild and figure out our options.' Although Ben managed to save some of the items crucial to his business, Lucy was not as lucky and lost her business in the fire. As a kids' entertainment business owner, she stored several items like bouncy castles and bubble houses in their home. 'We couldn't take it because they were all too big, so that got absolutely decimated in the fire. 'That was at least £8,000 worth of equipment completely burned. It's all plastic, so it just disappeared. I was able to get mine and put them in camera bags, but for her, we had no choice. It's unbelievable.' As he tries to make sense of what has happened, Ben believes their home burned so quickly because of nearby brushland that hadn't been cleared. He notes: 'Our house was the only one on our street that was completely burned. I think that's got to do with a land next to us that wasn't cleared. 'That caught on fire a lot easier, and our house burned too. There's land opposite us as well, but that was cleared. 'The local government must check these fire hazards and clear them, but they didn't clear the land next to us.' Ben says his family are among the lucky ones for now. 'We have a place to stay for now, but not everyone has been as lucky. Some have lost their homes and have nowhere to go. It's completely life changing.' Ben admits that he's frustrated with the news that the fires may have been set off by an arsonist. He says: 'If someone's creating fires and it's turning into such a tragic event, that's really unfortunate. 'It's not just our houses that got burned. Our friends' houses burned down too. Some people were lucky and escaped it, but if one spark of someone throwing a match out of hate or whatever, it changes people's lives. 'We are lucky we have family, but some people don't have anything. It's really tragic what has happened to some people.'


Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lorry driver for ruthless human traffickers linked to deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants is freed from prison after serving half his seven-year sentence
A lorry driver for the gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children in a failed people smuggling operation has been released from prison after serving just three and a half years. Christopher Kennedy was at the heart of the complex and lucrative human smuggling operation which for years illegally brought Vietnamese people into the UK from the Continent. Kennedy, 29, picked up containers with people inside, but not the one in which 39 Vietnamese, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in at Purfleet, Essex in October 2019. However, the trial of the ring leaders of the people-smuggling gang heard that Kennedy, from Keady in County Armagh, was a key member and 'in the loop' after the tragedy unfolded. The Old Bailey was told Kennedy received several phone calls from haulier boss Ronan Hughes soon after the bodies were discovered in one of his trailer's by driver Maurice Robinson. The jury heard that while Robinson was informing Hughes of the discovery, Kennedy was trying to get hold of him too. Within 46 seconds of the phone call ending, Hughes rang Kennedy, who was transporting a load of wine to the UK. Seven minutes later, Hughes called Kennedy again. The court was told the calls were made between burner phones belonging to the pair. Kennedy said the calls were regarding a 'problem' with his booking to transport the wine by boat from Zeebrugge and that he should go by train. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: 'I suggest to you, Mr Kennedy, you are making this up and Mr Hughes, dealing with 39 dead unlawful migrants, is not at the time calmly carrying on with you about your load of wine and whether you are on the boat or on the train. 'You have had to dream up an excuse for this call.' Kennedy insisted he was telling the truth. Later on Kennedy texted a friend that the trailer in which the bodies were found belonged to Hughes. He told the friend there 'must have been too many and run out of air'. His trial in December 2020 heard he picked up containers in Essex which arrived from Belgium. His job was to deliver them to a remote location at Orsett, a 20 minute drive from the port. Twice he did this in the two weeks before the smuggling operation which went wrong on October 23 2019, which is why he was tried with the other drivers involved. Kennedy was not charged with manslaughter but was instead charged with conspiracy to assist in unlawful immigration. He denied the charge and claimed he thought he was transporting cigarettes, but a jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to seven-years in jail. The Prison Service confirmed to MailOnline that Kennedy was released in January 2025 after serving half his sentence, in line with sentencing guidelines. A spokesperson said: 'Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to send them back to prison if they break the rules.' Kennedy was sentenced alongside other key members of the gang. Four were found guilty of manslaughter of the 39 migrants, who died 'excruciatingly painful' deaths, according to the judge. Ronan Hughes, 41, and Gheorghe Nica, 43, played 'leading roles' in the smuggling conspiracy and were jailed for 20 and 27 years respectively. Two other lorry drivers were also jailed for manslaughter. Eamonn Harrison, 24, who towed the trailer to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge before their journey to the UK, was sentenced to 18 years. Maurice Robinson, 26, was given 13 years and four months, having collected the trailer and opened it in an industrial estate to find the migrants dead. Two of Kennedy's fellow truck drivers were sentenced for conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration. Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, for four-and-a-half years; and Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, of Hobart Road, Tilbury, Essex, was given a three-year sentence. They are understood to have been released. Sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney said:'I have no doubt that the conspiracy was a sophisticated, long-running and profitable one to smuggle mainly Vietnamese people across the channel.' He said on the fatal trip the temperature had been rising along with the carbon dioxide levels throughout, hitting 40C (104F) while the container was at sea on 22 October 2019. 'There were desperate attempts to contact the outside world by phone and to break through the roof of the container,' the judge said. 'All were to no avail and, before the ship reached Purfleet, [the victims] all died in what must have been an excruciatingly painful death.' In March 2022, the Old Bailey heard Kennedy had made £67,050.65 from people smuggling but had just £6,094.18 in his Bank of Ireland account. Judge Mark Lucraft QC ordered that the available money should be confiscated and used as compensation to the families of the victims.