'Ivan's death overshadows everything': Emotional Samantha Cameron tells how 2009 death of her disabled son makes 'everything else just irrelevant' 

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Samantha Cameron has spoken of her struggle to cope with the death of her young son, Ivan, saying it 'overshadowed everything'.

Ivan Cameron, who was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy, died in hospital on February 26 2009 shortly before his seventh birthday.

Mrs Cameron described how they had to cope with regular 'life or death situations' throughout Ivan's life, yet his death was still a 'huge shock'.

Mrs Cameron pictured with Ivan in on October 19, 2007 when she was opening a new lift to enable children in wheelchairs to access the Special Yoga Centre in Kensal Rise, London

The fashion entrepreneur told The Times in an emotional interview that she sought strength from her faith and found hosting charity events at Downing Street cathartic.

However, she would often be brought to tears when meeting children and parents in similar situations.

Mrs Cameron said the experience - which came just a year before the couple entered Downing Street - was the 'biggest thing in my life' while 'being the prime minister's wife was just a role'.

'Ive dying is such a massive thing that everything else is irrelevant. It just overshadows everything,' she said. 

Mrs Cameron said Ivan's premature death  was of such magnitude that it made everything else 'meaningless'. Pictured: The couple return to their home in Notting Hill after his death in 2009

Mrs Cameron described how they had to cope with regular 'life or death situations' throughout Ivan's life, yet his death was still a 'huge shock'. The couple pictured in 2009 returning from hospital after Ivan's death

Mrs Cameron said the couple relied on routine so they did not 'fall apart completely'. The Camerons are pictured at Ivan's funeral in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, on March 3, 2009

'What goes on in the outside world becomes meaningless. Like anyone else in my situation, I just kept going. You have to deal with it, because you have no choice.'

Mrs Cameron said the couple relied on routine so they did not 'fall apart completely' and they still visit Ivan's grave 'very often'.

Their first child, Ivan was born with a severe form of epilepsy and cerebral palsy and died shortly before his seventh birthday. Pictured in a photo handed by the Camerons in 2009

When Mr Cameron announced his resignation after losing the referendum in June he appeared on the steps of Downing Street flanked by his wife and Ivan's siblings, Nancy, Florence and Arthur, who had grown up the flat above No 11.

In a way their brother's death had helped her prepare for the 'parallel universe' of life in Westminster, Mrs Cameron explained.

'I think it changed Dave's politics. It made him understanding, although he couldn't be too subjective,' she said.

Ivan was born in 2002 but by his second week he was losing weight and suffering jerky movements.

He was eventually diagnosed with Ohtahara syndrome - a rare neurological disorder characterised by seizures.

Doctors told the couple that some children with Ohtahara syndrome die in infancy, while others live for years but with profound disability. 

The former Prime Minister later recollected that Ivan's diagnosis hit him 'like a freight train'.

Mr Cameron speaking outside Downing Street for the last time as Prime Minister on July 13. Behind him, left to right, Florence, Nancy and Alwin

But he recalled a kind of epiphany a few days after Ivan’s diagnosis, when he realised he and Samantha were ‘going to get through this’.

‘If we can’t do a good job and look after him, then we have failed,’ he thought to himself. 

Though his condition meant he could not move his limbs or speak, the Camerons drew strength from the fact that he appeared to respond to their love and care.

Samantha Cameron pictured with her other children - Florence, Nancy and Alwin - in Downing Street on July 13, 2016

'Ivan's only self-conscious movements are to raise his eyebrows and to smile,' Mr Cameron said in 2004.

'And his smile - slightly crooked, sometimes accompanied by a little moan - can light up a room. It never fails to make me both happy and immensely proud of him.'

But asked once if he thought Ivan enjoyed his life, he replied: 'Oh, not really, I think his life's very tough.'

Managing Ivan’s condition was an intensive process and he was given as many as 20 different drugs a day

There were regular emergencies caused by seizures, infections and changes in his blood pressure.

In both 2002 and 2003, Mr Cameron had to abandon the Tory party conference because Ivan was in hospital.

But the former PM said they knew their own limitations and decided not to be martyrs.

‘The parents of disabled children are not necessarily angels,’ he said.

The family now spend their time between homes in Notting Hill, west London, and Oxfordshire, where Mr Cameron served as MP for Witney for 15 years. Pictured: By No10 on July 13

St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, which looked after Ivan during his illness. Consultant paediatrician Dr Mando Watson attended his funeral

‘They didn’t ask for this to happen. And you mustn’t pretend to be an angel, because if you do you’ll exhaust yourself or your marriage will break down or your other kids will suffer.'

The family now spend their time between homes in Notting Hill, west London, and Oxfordshire, where Mr Cameron served as MP for Witney for 15 years.

Mrs Cameron, who worked for British leather brand Smythson while he was PM, has now launched her own women's wear label, Ceffin.