A HEARTBROKEN mum is praying for a miracle for her six-year-old son after doctors told her he has just weeks to live.

Stacey Molloy, 27, from Castlemilk, still has hope for little Ryan Mclean who was born with a brain tumour in April 2008.

At just six days old, he was rushed to Edinburgh to have surgery on the growth which covered three quarters of his brain.

Ryan is now fighting for life in Yorkhill's high dependency unit after suddenly becoming ill again on Monday.

Today the mum-of-three made this plea: "There must be someone out there who can help or know something about his condition.

"When the doctors told us we weren't looking at months or years any more, we were looking at weeks I just couldn't believe it.

"You just think 'why has this happened to me?'"

The battling youngster has had hundreds of operations, including 30 this year already, doctors have been unable to find a cure for Ryan or even a name for his condition and have told Stacey to prepare for the worst.

Two months ago, doctors met with Stacey and her mother Shirley, and told them the youngster may only have weeks left to live.

Grandmother Shirley, who also lives in Castlemilk, said she was angry and upset and couldn't believe what she was hearing.

She said: "We feel like he's done all the work, and he's done all the fighting and now it's our turn to fight for him and the doctor's tell us that.

"Why did it happen? I was just in shock. Where did it come from? How did he get that cancer in the brain?"

In 2011 the family was told Ryan's condition was terminal, but the toddler continued to fight.

She said: "When they said he was terminal I was totally heartbroken, I couldn't take it in. He got a good couple of years without it developing though, but in March it started bleeding again and we found out it was growing."

After chemotherapy sessions things looked more hopeful as his tumour had stopped growing and he started school last year.

It was something Stacey thought she would never see - the day her eldest son put on his uniform and went through the school gates.

And like many other boys his age, Ryan loves to play football and computer games with his younger brother Reece.

The pair, who are only one year apart, are the best of friends and people often mistake them for twins because they are so inseparable.

But Stacey has not been able to bring herself to tell five-year-old Reece and their two-year-old sister Paige, what might happen to Ryan.

She said: "They know Ryan's unwell though, even Paige will go into nursery and tell the staff Ryan's been sick. They just don't know the extent of it."

Now the family face the agonising decision to put him through aggressive radiotherapy which could leave him severely disabled.

Stacey said: "Since the tumour covered three quarters of his brain, he's only got a wee bit left and if they irradiate him they've told me it would make him disabled and he might not be able to talk.

"It's really dangerous and it would mean him being put to sleep every day as well."

Despite being so unwell, Ryan still manages to smile and never makes a fuss about feeling sick.

And Stacey is desperately hoping her son will be able to start his new term at Kelbourne school in Maryhill - it's a hope she clings to.

hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.uk