Through Children's Eyes explores how children cope when their worlds are turned upside down by ill health, whether they're patient, carer or sibling.
The documentary tells the stories and experiences of three families - from Ruthin, Pembroke Dock and Nantyglo - each with very serious medical troubles. The big difference with this film is that it is the children themselves who are calling the shots, using their own cameras and voices to capture their experiences.
Helena and Doug Lawrence from Ruthin, north Wales, have three sons: Gethin, 12, Geraint, 8, and Gwilym 6.
Gethin was born with a congenital heart defect and has had numerous surgical operations during his lifetime, including open heart surgery at just 14 months.
His most recent procedure at Great Ormond Street Hospital in May 2004 went horribly wrong when an attempt to put a tube into an artery grazed the inside of his lung and caused it to rapidly fill up with blood, leaving him fighting for survival.
A resulting clot was the size of a golf ball and Gethin also suffered two heart attacks. He was dead on the table for 19 minutes in total. And this all happened while the family - including Geraint and Gwilym - could do nothing but watch.
"We were told he was gone," recalls dad Doug. "It wasn't an ordinary heart attack as such, because the heart was having to work so hard to oxygenate the blood, but because the lung was full of blood, that had to be drained before attempting to get the heart going properly, and the harder the heart was beating the faster the lungs would fill.
"Geraint and Gwilym were in cardiac intensive care saying goodbye to him when he started the second heart attack in front of them. It was frightening. Suddenly there was a crew of 14 people around this little body trying to bring him back to life. It was too much for Geraint, who had to leave the room.
"Gwilym was four at the time, and said, 'It's okay, isn't it, because he gets another two lives?' as if it was a computer game.
"And I remember at one point Geraint asking quietly whether it would be all right if he could have Gethin's room when he'd gone."
Thanks to a special life support machine called an ecnomachine - of which there are only a handful in the UK - Gethin was brought back to life. But meanwhile all his major organs had shut down causing brain damage. As a result he often displays disturbing and aggressive behaviour.
Through Children's Eyes explores how children cope when their worlds are turned upside down by ill health, whether they're patient, carer or sibling
Now being looked after at home, Gethin won't be having any further invasive medical treatment, so the family are leading life as normally as possible. Doug says that making the film has given his sons a project to work on together. Like all the families involved in Through Childrens' Eyes, they are even involved at the editing stage, travelling to Cardiff to see a rough cut.
"I hope the final cut looks like a joint effort from the boys," says Doug. "Geraint is normally quite shy while Gwilym is quite opposite. I think the film has given them a good chance to talk to each other about things. And Gethin believes the film is all about him, so I've been trying to explain that it's from his sibling's point of view."
Lauren George from Pembroke Dock is just 10 years old, but her life has been dominated by cancer. She was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2005 after her father, John - a popular singer in pubs and clubs in his spare time - was diagnosed with lung cancer two years earlier. John's late father also suffered from lung cancer.
Lauren loves singing with her dad - who is currently well after a lumpectomy but has given up work to care for Lauren - and her film show her daily life through treatment and returning to school last September.
In Nantyglo near Ebbw Vale, the Davies family are coping with the vascular dementia of mum Patricia who, at 43, is young to suffer from a disease which will probably develop into Alzheimers. Husband Kelvin is full time carer while daughters Chamelle, 14, and Jadeelee, 13, help out more than most teenagers with household chores.
Chamelle wants to be a model and pop singer when she's older, but for now life is less glamorous. She talks movingly in the film to her mum about how the mood swings and depression symptomatic of the illness can make life difficult and how she and Jadeelee are different characters in school and at home.
Filmmaker Amanda Rees, who comes from Cross Hands says the finished documentary will be a mixture of amateur and professional shots, each delving into different layers of the childrens' stories.
"These children allowed our cameras into their world, so we also gave them each a camera," she says. "So we've got our own camera's point of view, but also a lot of film self-shot by the children themselves. By cutting between the two, I think we have a very intimate picture of these remarkable childrens' worlds.
Through Children's Eyes is made by Green Bay for BBC Wales
Gethin Lawrence (2 Jan 1994 - 15 May 2007)
A few months after the episode he contributed to was broadcast, Gethin Lawrence passed away, aged 13.
The video diaries he made with his brothers, Geraint and Gwilym, and parents, Helena and Doug, remain as a testimony to this affectionate, passionate boy and the remarkably strong and loving family whom he adored. Gethin's charm, energy and resilience despite his illness make him unforgettable to all who were lucky enough to meet him.
