'Ivan was so very special to us'

A doctor and a couple who helped care for Ivan Cameron have talked of what a special child he was.

Former ambulance workers Jack and Doreen Ingram, hailed by the Conservative leader, said they felt as if they had lost their own son.

The couple would pick him up in the morning from the Cameron home in north Kensington, and take him to the specialist Cheyne Day Centre at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital then bring him home.

Mr and Mrs Ingram, from New Malden, who have six grown-up children, 26 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, said the journeys could be difficult.

"We would pick him up at 7am, he would be on board for an hour, hour and a quarter. Nine out of 10 times he would have fits and convulsions in the ambulance. But he always had a good, smiling face," said Jack, 63.

He told the Standard: "We always looked on him as one of our own. We spent so much time with him in the ambulance. He was a lovely boy. He was two years old when we were first introduced to him. We developed bonds with him and the family. "

Mr Cameron praised their importance in a speech in 2006 and invited them to a party at his home.

Doreen, 65, said they had not yet been able to pass on their condolences to the Camerons as they had not had much contact since Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust closed the centre in 2007 and they were made redundant.

Dr Mando Watson, a consultant who treated Ivan, told GMTV: "Ivan was a really beautiful boy and his smile was very special and he had a great presence. When he looked at you, when he responded it was so special and so rewarding and I think that touched a lot of people."