AN inspirational Thurrock family have featured on the BBC today, telling the world how they have coped with the pressures of Coronavirus and still come up smiling despite the most difficult of circumstances.

Darren Garwood and his wife Rebecca live in Tilbury with their two children Darren and Seren.

Jackson suffers from Krabbe Disease an incurable rare genetic condition where the white matter of the nervous system degenerates.

The Darren and Rebecca were told it was unlikely he would live for two years - this summer he will be seven!

The couple and Jackson's youngster sister Seren have shown remarkable devotion to him and even through Covid, when they have been shielding at home since the pandemic began, they are upbeat.

Today (Wednesday, 13 January) they were featured on BBC London's local news programme, which told their inspirational story of commitment and optimism through adversity.

Darren has even become an author because of his son. In 2019 he produced a children's book inspired by Jackson.

The idea came from a question by Rebecca, who asked Darren if he thought Jackson had dreams.

Darren was sure he did and then began to imagine what he might dream about - and placed his son as the star of a fictional superhero story.

Owls are one of Jackson's favourite animals so Darren began writing rhymes for him before bedtime. This turned into a storybook over time. Then his friend, Carl Osborne, illustrated drawings to help make it into a real-life book.

The first book, Jackson Saves an Owl, tells the story of how the boy with a rare disease is far from ordinary and that makes him a superhero at night.

Since then Darren has created two more 'Jackson' books, the third of which - Jackson saves the Moon - has just been published.

Darren told the BBC why he remains so upbeat and feels so blessed, saying: ""We just have to make some tough decisions but be can't worry constantly about it. We have to crack on because it's life.

"Seren needs a normal upbringing and so we do everything in a cautious way - all you can do is crack on.

"Everyone has sad days and sometimes our sad days are sadder than most but as I see it if I cam through our front door being miserable, my wife would be miserable and my children would be miserable.

"So if I came through the door smiling then my wife will be happy and my children will be happy.

"All we can do is show Jackson some love and we try and do everything he needs to make him happy.

"What's the point of being miserable? We only get one go."

You can order a copy of Jackson Saves the Moon online here[L] and you can also get the other two books, Jackson Saves and Owl and Jackson's Pollution solution at the same site.

See also:

[L] http://www.thurrockindependent.com/2019/10/25/jacksons-smile-is-schools-pick/ [L+]School backs Jackson's charity.

Dad creates a superhero inspired by Jackson