THE family of a brave Newport boy who had a Monsters Inc themed funeral have paid tribute to his teachers and the nurses who cared for him with a special presentation at the Royal Gwent Hospital.

Dylan Brooks, six, died in January after a lifelong battle with periventricular leukomalacia, which caused part of his brain to die and fill with water.

Dylan, who was blind and also suffered with cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy, was born 11 weeks premature. Weighing only 3lb 11oz, he had a life expectancy of just five years.

Wheelchair-bound, the brave Maes Ebbw pupil was on 13 different types of medication but defied doctors to live well past his sixth birthday.

More than £2,000 was raised for Dylan's funeral thanks to a crowdfunding page set up by his aunt, Bekki Toynton, and the £600 left over has been donated to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Ty Hafan and Maes Ebbw School.

Dylan's great-grandmother, Pat Van Den Heede, 69, said the family were keen to make the presentation - which included books, arts and crafts and fans - to give something back.

She said: “It’s nice that even though it was all raised in Dylan’s name, we have been able to give a bit back.

“It’s raising awareness of Ty Hafan and of the fact that epilepsy is a killer. Dylan had severe brain damage but it was the epilepsy that was out of control.

“We’re not over it by any stretch of the imagination but it’s nice to bring it to a conclusion.”

Such was Dylan’s condition in the days before he died, he was fitting up to 40 times a day because of his epilepsy.

Mrs Van Den Heede says it’s been a big adjustment for Dylan’s siblings, Ellie, 11, Anthony, 10, Shakira, six, and Faith, two, but they just take each day as it comes.

She said: “We had his birthday three weeks after he died and we had birthday cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday’.

“Now we can sit back and think, ‘What next?’ We just want to take a little rest at the moment. We’re just going day by day by day.”

Maes Ebbw School's deputy head teacher, Mark Evans, says Dylan's name will be added to the school's memorial tree to remind pupils of his legacy.

He said: "Dylan was always  at the centre of laughter and fun that came with our lessons.

"We were all immensely sad when Dylan passed away, but he left a lasting impression in all our hearts.

"He will always be remembered fondly by those who met him and his memory continues to live on."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Gwent Hospital said: “We are delighted with the donations in memory of Dylan to our ward.

“Dylan spent a lot of his time with us here on the ward and we got to know him and his family really well.

“We miss Dylan very much and we will make sure the donations will be used to benefit the children spending time on the ward.”