A MOTHER who has never heard her young son make a single noise hopes to soon hear him laugh - for the very first time.

Laura Flake's little boy Jacob was born with an incredibly rare condition that causes tumours to develop throughout his body.

They are benign so they are harmless, but the location and size of the tumours can cause significant problems.

And because one-year-old Jacob has one pressing on his vocal cord, he is unable to make a sound.

It means Miss Flake has never heard him cry or even laugh.

But he has now begun chemotherapy in a bid to shrink the tumour - and finally give him a voice.

The 22-year-old first time mother, from Fareham, Hants, said: "Jacob is such a happy boy and I long to hear his little laugh.

"It might sound strange but even just to hear him cry would mean everything to me.

"We hope the chemotherapy will shrink the tumour enough to enable him to make these noises and be just like any other little boy.

"He has been through so much but he is still always smiling. To me, he is a little miracle."

Jacob was born three weeks prematurely in September last year, but as Miss Flake and his father Peter Light, 29, waited to hear his cry - the sound never came.

She said "While most mums hear their babies cry and cuddle them in their first precious moments, Jacob was whisked away to intensive care.

"It wasn't at all how I'd imagined the birth and I was left desperate to know what was happening."

Days later medics at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hants, diagnosed Jacob with a condition known as infantile-myofibromatosis.

The rare disorder is characterised by the growth of one or more benign tumours and Jacob has one in his neck and five more throughout his body.

Miss Flake said: "Peter and I knew something was wrong as Jacob wasn't breathing properly and he wasn't able to swallow.

"He just seemed to be struggling to breathe but doctors were baffled as to what was wrong.

"He spent the first six weeks of his life on the intensive care unit and soon after we were told he had infantile-myofibromatosis.

"Doctors explained he couldn't make a sound because of a tumour pressing on his vocal cords.

"Naturally, the word 'tumour' puts such fear in a parent and although it was a big relief to know they were benign, the tumour in his throat has caused him a lot of problems.

"Because it's so big, it's pushing on his vocal cords, which is stopping him swallowing and he can't make a noise.

"I have to keep a very close eye on him as he can't cry to let me know if he needs me."

The tumour also means that Jacob can't swallow or eat normally and spends most of his week in hospital.

But the brave youngster is now receiving a second round of chemotherapy to shrink the size of the tumour.

It will last the course of the next four weeks and medics hope it will eventually shrink to the extent that Jacob can get his voice.

Miss Flake added: "The tumour has already shrunk by several millimetres and we are hopeful that it will reduce significantly in the next few weeks.

"I can't wait to hear my boy for the first time."