A FAMILY is set to celebrate the ninth birthday of a Tilbury youngster who continues to deny medical expectations and who has become something of a literary superhero through a series of books written by his father, Darren.

Thurrock Nub News first told the story of Jackson Garwood in February 2019 after Darren published the first of what has now become a series of illustrated children's stories featuring the imaginary superhero his son dreamed he might be.

And more than four years later Jackson really is proving to be a superhero, defying the predictions of the medical profession.

Jackson was born with Krabbe Disease, an incurable rare genetic condition where the white matter of the nervous system degenerates. That leads to loss of developmental and motor skills. There can also be signs of blindness, paralysis, weight loss and unexplained fevers.

News of their son's illness, first spotted when he was nine-months old and diagnosed by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital three months later, rocked the lives of Darren and his wife, Rebecca.

Darren said: "Our world came crashing down. At first I didn't want to talk about it, but we did as it helps to get through things." And getting through things has seen Jackson show remarkable resilience against the disease.

Initially Darren and Rebecca were told Jackson might not live to see his third birthday.

Darren with the books

In 2017, Rebecca asked Darren whether Jackson dreamed, and wondered what he dreamt about.

Darren believed he did, and formed the idea of all the amazing things he might think about while he slept. Which led to the creation of the first of the storybooks.

He wanted to give Jackson the chance to experience adventures in his dreams. And those adventures have been turned into a book series that children across the world now know and love.

Owls are one of Jackson's favourite animals so Darren began writing rhymes for him before bedtime. These turned into stories over time. Then his friend, Carl Osborne, illustrated drawings to help make them into a real-life book called 'Jackson Saves An Owl."

More book ideas followed and five are now out that have proved a hit with readers and gained positive celebrity reviews from Russell Brand, Chrissy Boy from Madness and Faye Barker of ITV News. Chris Jarvis from CBeebies now voices the stories using a free QR code audio inside the books.

Darren, Seren, Jackson and Rebecca.

And with Jackson's ninth birthday due in August the family, which includes Jackson's little sister Seren, will be celebrating by taking part in broadcaster Chris Evans' famed Carfest festival.

Darren says: "I have been invited to share the Jackson superhero stories this year at Carfest for three nights. The line up is brilliant with Lee Mack, Russell Brand, Razorlight, Sophie Ellis Bexter and many other great acts.

"I can't wait to share Jackson Superhero with the crowd and hopefully be able to help other families and children.

"It's amazing what you can achieve when it's built around love."

The Jackson superhero books are currently on sale at https://www.jacksonsuperhero.com/, Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith.