'I knew something was wrong': mum's post about her son will break your heart

Two weeks ago, four-year-old Dexter was sent home from school with a sore throat.

The next morning a rash appeared, so his mum, Josie Barron, rushed him to hospital. 

Sadly, little Dexter was diagnosed with leukaemia soon after and Josie and her husband were left devastated. 

The mum-of-three took to her Facebook page Mummy Social after his diagnosis, and wrote a post that she wished she "wasn't writing". 

"I don't want to see my boy's name on the white board in the ward for children with cancer," the Australian shared.

"I don't want to have witnessed my boy's blood curdling screams while emergency procedures had to be done. I don't want to be signing consent forms for bone marrow to be taken and drugs to be administered.

"I don't want to be walking my child into treatment rooms knowing he's about to be injected with chemo and I don't want to be seeing the side effects already kicking in."

However, despite the terrible situation the Barron family finds themselves in, Josie is looking on the positive side – and proving just what an inspiration she is. 

"This is now our story and I know in many ways we are extremely lucky. We have a 90% chance of taking our boy home fit and well after the treatment is complete. We are on a well trodden road, albeit slightly messy and rather long.

"There are children and families on this ward who are in far worse positions than us. So I am looking on the positive side, gritting my teeth, taking it one hour at a time, and being the cheeriest, silliest mum I can be!"

Josie's post, while no doubt incredibly difficult to write, has had such a positive impact. People have been giving blood, donating to charities and sharing similar stories. 

"The blood donations have been pouring in, charity donations waiting to be made, the messages of similar stories have been shared, awareness is spreading and hundreds of positive vibes are coming his way," she wrote in a follow up post. 

"So thank you for your support. It's overwhelming me a good way. The glass bubble has been removed and you've helped me get my boxing gloves on."