A Tauranga mother, who tragically lost her son less than 24 hours after he became ill, is campaigning to raise awareness in hopes it will urge parents to seek help faster.

Four months ago Alyssa Craig and Ash Glanville's five-year-old son Lincoln died of Myocarditis - a rare condition, which presented itself as no more than a tummy bug.

Lincoln Craig passed away four months ago, at five-years-old.

Now the 24-year-old is campaigning to raise as much awareness as possible of Myocarditis – the virus that stole her 'angel”.

On October 14, 2013, Lincoln Craig woke feeling under the weather. He went through the day as normal, but began vomiting and registering a mild fever at 7pm.

'I gave him Pamol and as any parent would think, I thought he had just caught a tummy bug,” says Alyssa.

'He was totally coherent, I never thought once to take him to the doctor. We were just going to ride out the night, keep the fluids up and see how he was in the morning.”

At 3am the following morning, Lincoln woke and vomited again.

'He asked for a drink of water, and then without much warning he curled over and stopped breathing right in front of my eyes. With no struggle or pain, his heart just stopped in five seconds.”

Alyssa, who lived alone with Lincoln, called an ambulance and performed CPR – but paramedics could do nothing else.

'How can such a vibrant, full of life, smart, beautiful child be fine one day and gone the next, with absolutely no obvious warning signs?

'If I had taken Linc to the doctor that day, they would have turned me away because it looked like only a simple tummy bug.”

Alyssa suffers severe anxiety whenever she recalls that night, but says she finally feels strong enough to share Lincoln's story – in the hope other parents will know of the condition.

'I can't even bear the thought of anyone else having to go through what I had to.

'I'm trying to be strong and I think this is giving me a goal. It felt like my life was over, he was my life. This makes me feel good, knowing I'm letting people know his story.”

Bay of Plenty District Health Board clinical director of cardiology, Dr Jonathan Tisch, says Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle often thought to be caused by a viral infection.

'We see about five to 10 cases a year at Tauranga Hospital. It is relatively difficult to diagnose and its effects can vary from being very minor to serious, or even fatal.”

An organisation is trying to fund research for the creation of a simple Myocarditis test, and donations can be made through www.myocarditisfoundation.org