A mother is warning of the risks of a common virus which her son caught when he was in the womb that will prevent him from ever walking or talking.

CMV is normally harmless, but can cause birth defects and permanent disabilities in kids if the mum contracts it while pregnant.

The virus can be caused by the passing of bodily fluids or not regularly washing your hands when preganant.

Pam Rogers was 31 weeks pregnant when she was told the life-changing news her baby Christopher, now five, had an underdeveloped brain and signs of microcephaly.

He was born in 2013 was cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He is also blind and deaf in one ear.

Speaking to Whimn, Mrs Rogers of Canberra, Australia , said: "I don't even think devastated covers it. We were absolutely gutted."

Mrs Rodgers and her husband Tom were offered an abortion but refused the procedure.

Pam, who had never heard of CMV until she found out her son had it, said Christopher's life is "challenging" and says she and Tom don't know how much time they have left with him.

"One day the demands of his body will be too much for the capacity of his brain and we have no way of knowing when that's going to be," she said

"There's no way of knowing exactly how long we've got him for. We try and live each day to the fullest so that when that day does come we have no regrets."

CMV is thought to affect 80% of British adults and is similar to the herpes virus, which causes cold sores.

The virus stays with you for life and can only be passed on when it's active, such as when you first catch it.

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