Mum 'terrified' son, 5, would die alone on cancer ward while she gave birth

A Rochdale mum has shared her fears that her five-year-old son would die on a cancer ward while she was giving birth to his brother. Fauzia Ashraf, 32, and husband Mohsin Ahmed were forced to say goodbye to their son Saqib just 13 days after bringing his brother into the family.

The couple were excited to welcome their third son and sibling for Aqib, then seven, Saqib, four, into the world, when Saqib was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.

There were just 10 weeks between his first symptom and his tragic death just two weeks after his fifth birthday. "As I gave birth to my baby, my biggest fear was having to leave my five-year-old son on the children's cancer ward and him dying without his mummy by his side,” the mother and history teacher said.

"I was not in that room present for the new life I was bringing into the world. "Instead of being excited about meeting my baby, all I could see was Saqib’s beautiful face as I prayed he wouldn’t die while I was in labour."

Now Fauzia is sharing her son’s story through The Brain Tumour Charity to help raise awareness about brain tumours, and is backing The Charity’s HeadSmart campaign which highlights common symptoms of children’s brain tumours .

The family’s nightmare started in the school summer holidays last year, when Saqib starting having sporadic headaches. A week after he started suffering headaches, Saqib was dribbling and a few days after that, he suddenly became frightened of using the stairs.

"The changes happened so rapidly and in that time I made contact six times with GPs,” said Fauzia. "I felt fobbed off and unheard. They made me feel like the ‘crazy mum’ who was worried for no reason.”

"Being pregnant, I was hesitant to go to the hospital myself in the