A heartbroken mum has revealed how her ‘hero’ son knew he was soon going to die - but ‘suffered in silence’ in a bid to protect her and his dad.

Brave Ben Green, 21, kept his knowledge that he would shortly lose his life a secret from his parents, Jaime and Phil Green, to save them the anguish.

Despite never having been so scared in his life, he selflessly asked medical staff caring for him not to let the couple know how seriously ill he was.

The young man, who suffered from cystic fibrosis, passed away last Saturday.

‘He just wanted to protect me. I wish I had known because I could have done so much more,’ said his devastated mum from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, reports the Mirror.

‘He suffered in silence, he didn’t want anyone to know.’

Although Jaime wishes she had known the seriousness of her son’s condition, she told Gloucestershire Live his final, unselfish act was typical of him.

She said: ‘To not say anything about what was happening to him...

‘He was just a hero.’

Ben’s parents found out after he died at Bristol Royal Infirmary that he asked staff who were caring for him not to tell them how serious his condition was.

Jaime also discovered that the former Bournside School pupil had posted a Snapchat message saying he was feeling more scared than ever before.

She had been her son’s full-time career at their home - and said that for him to find the courage not to tell her of his darkest fear was remarkable.

Suffering in silence was typical of Ben, she said, as he wanted to be treated like everyone else - even though he was poorly throughout his life and never strong enough to work.

‘He didn’t want to be wrapped in cotton wool. If I tried to talk to him about certain things, he would say ‘Don’t be so deep mum’,’ Jaime said.

‘He was always about everyone else.

‘If he did go out, he would give £10 to a tramp, that sort of thing.’

Jaime and Phil said they felt they would never meet a stronger person in their lives.

They urged people to support the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which helps people with the condition. It is an inherited one in which the lungs and digestive system can become clogged with thick, sticky mucus.

The couple are now trying to console Ben’s five sisters and four brothers following his death. The siblings are aged three to 22 and seven of them still live in the family home.

They will be among hundreds of people expected to attend Ben’s funeral in St Mark’s Church, at 1.30pm on November 29. All are welcome to attend it, before a private burial at Cheltenham Cemetery.

Mourners are being invited to wear something pink as it was Ben’s favourite colour.

An online fundraising appeal has been set up to help pay for the funeral.

In 2013, the Gloucestershire Echo helped the family raise enough money to take Ben on a dream holiday to Universal Studios in Florida.

Now Jaime plans to have her son’s coffin carried to the church in a VW camper van, saying it will be ‘like he will be going on a holiday’ and adding that he would not have had wanted to be carried in a traditional black hearse.

Phil said some of Ben’s friends felt guilty for not having been in touch with him recently, but he said the family did not want anyone to feel regretful.

‘Cherish the times we had with him,’ he said.