THE grieving family of Ryan Davies have today spoken of their pain at losing the écheerful, outgoingé youngster and highlighted the plight of families coping with mental health and learning disability.

As they wait for news of his mum Alison, her sister Lindsay Cook said: éAlthough Ryan had Fragile X Syndrome, he was a cheerful, outgoing, friendly boy who loved football and riding his bike.

éHe enjoyed company and was loved by all who knew him and will be deeply missed.

éWe would also like to highlight the ongoing plight of families coping with mental health and learning disability issues in order to spare other families from experiencing this pain.

éGod bless you Ryan. We love and miss you terribly.é

Thanks

Speaking on behalf of the family, she added: éAt this time of great tragedy for our family, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the police for their rapid response and support throughout.

éWe ask people to understand the tremendous grief we are feeling and give us time to mourn the loss of dear Ryan whilst awaiting news of Alison.é

Fragile X Syndrome is a disability which affects one in 4,000 men and one in 8,000 women. It is caused by a DNA abnormality which may be passed from one generation to the next.

People with it can suffer from mild to severe learning difficulties, with boys tending to be more severely affected than girls. Other problems associated with the condition include delayed and distorted speech and language development, repetitive behaviour, attention deficit and over activity syndromes similar to some features of autism.