A mother has told how she cradled her eight-year-old son in her arms as he died from meningitis.

Theresa Banks, 27, climbed into a hospital bed and cuddled her son Ross as he lost his fight against the virus.

Also at the boy's bedside was his father, Ian MacDonald, and his stepfather, Scott Bohannon.

Miss Banks, a trained nursery nurse, spoke of the moment she realised Ross had meningitis.

She said: "The whole family had flu and at first we thought that's what Rossi had.

"He went to bed on Wednesday night with all the symptoms of flu and I kept cooling him with wet flannels and Calpol during the night.

"I got up at 6.40am and Rossi was already in the kitchen. He said he couldn't move.

"His eyes were red and he had a rash. I knew at once it was meningitis.

"I called our doctor and he told us to get him to hospital straight away so rather than wait for an ambulance we took him by car."

Ross, a pupil at Hangleton Junior School, was seen by doctors at the Royal Alexander Children's Hospital in Brighton.

But his kidneys were beginning to fail and he was transferred to Guys Hospital in London for dialysis.

Miss Banks, of Hardwick Road, Hangleton, Hove, said: "They did not think he would survive the journey but he did.

"He was so brave and calm. He began to respond to the antibiotics and we hoped he might pull through. But the poisons from the virus spread through his body and his organs began to shut down one by one.

"The doctors said they could try to save him by amputating his arms and legs to stop the poison from spreading.

"We asked for half an hour to think about what to do but by then the choice had been made for us.

"The only part of Rossi that was still alive was his brain and the doctors said it would be kinder to him to turn off his life support machine.

"That is a heart-wrenching decision for any parent to make but we had to take it for his sake.

"They took him off the machine and put him in a side room. I climbed into bed with him and cuddled him. I sang some of the silly songs I used to make up for him."

Ross died on Friday after being taken ill on the Wednesday.

Miss Banks said Ross was mad about dinosaurs and his school friends had drawn pictures for him and written tributes.

She said: "Rossi was full of love and that's how everyone will remember him. I would ask him if he wanted to go out anywhere and he would say he just wanted to stay at home and be with us."

Terry Clarke, head teacher at Hangleton Junior School, said: "He was a lovely lad, very quiet, very hard working, a nice-looking boy who enjoyed life.

"He is sadly missed and our thoughts are with his family."

Ross's father and stepfather praised the work of staff at Guys and the Royal Alex who tried to save him.

Mr MacDonald, 31, a plasterer, said: "They did everything they could but in the end they were just not able to save him.

"The staff at the Royal Alex were wonderful but the hospital does not have enough money for the right equipment which might have helped him.

"He had to go to Guys because he needed dialysis when his kidneys started to fail. It is very sad we don't have those facilities in a city like Brighton and Hove.

"Once we are back on our feet, we will be doing all we can to raise money to buy equipment so children who get meningitis can be treated here."

Parents of children at Hangleton Juniors were warned to keep a close watch on their youngsters.

Leaflets giving advice on how to check for signs of meningitis were distributed to parents.

Angela Iversen, consultant in communicable disease control for the East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority, spoke to 60 parents at a meeting at the school.

She said: "Local GPs have been alerted and we are advising parents to contact them if they are worried."

There have been seven meningitis cases in the area this year and this latest cases was the first fatality.