A TERMINALLY ill schoolboy is set to realise his dream of swimming with dolphins when he goes on the trip of a lifetime next month.

Liam Greenwood will fly out on an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World on a specially chartered flight for children with terminal or life-threatening conditions.

The 11-year-old Stanecastle pupil has been diagnosed with Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia (PCH) – a condition caused by mutations in certain genes passed on from parents.

Liam’s mum Claire and dad Martin were dealt the devastating blow of Liam’s illness just weeks after being told their daughter Jessica, 12, also suffers from the rare condition.

Now the couple face losing both their children to the killer disease.

Claire says while Jessica is too ill to go on the trip, the family were determined not to let the opportunity pass Liam by, even though neither Claire or Martin can go with him.

She said: “We are very nervous about Liam going all that way without us, but we just couldn’t let this amazing opportunity go. We found out about this trip then we got his diagnosis a week later. We knew we had to let our anxiety about it be put to one side because it’s the trip of a lifetime.

“Liam will be going with 192 other children who all have a disability or life threatening condition. For them all to go together and share this amazing experience is just amazing. We couldn’t be more grateful for Liam to have this amazing opportunity.”

Claire says Liam, who will be accompanied by specialist carers on the trip, will finally get to live out a long-held dream.

She said: “A group of kids from Scotland travel down to London on October 26 and they will stay at the Hilton where they meet the rest of the group. They will spend the night in London and are having a party with Dick and Dom. They will then fly out to Florida on October 27 for 10 days. It just looks amazing. So magical and Liam will finally get to swim with dolphins.”

The family have had their entire world shattered after being told that both of their children are dying.

The illness has left Jessica unable to walk, talk, swallow or communicate and the James MacFarlane School pupil is receiving palliative care.

Claire said doctors are unable to tell them how long they have left with their children, only that the average life span for children with PCH is 10-12-years-old.

She said: “The diagnosis basically means both Liam and Jessica have two parts of their brain which are affected and their condition will deteriorate over time but we won’t know how long we have left with them.

“At the moment Jessica is deteriorating every day. We can only hope to have them with us for years to come, but there is just no way of knowing."