We have to pursue National Collegiate Trust/American Education Services to forgive a deceased boy's student loan

Ella Edwards had an only son,  Jermaine Edwards, a wonderful young man and the light of her life.

When he went to college to study music production, she was happy to cosign his student loans -- he dreamt of making a better life for himself and she wanted to help him do that.

These are her words: "But then Jermaine died suddenly in 2009 at just 24 years old. That's when American Education Services (AES) and National Collegiate Trust (NCT) turned my son's dream into a nightmare for me and the two year old son he left behind.

Jermaine had three student loans when he passed -- two from the federal government, and one private loan. The federal loans were forgiven within a month of his death. But AES is refusing to forgive the loan.

Jermaine was my only child, and after his death, I was so devastated I could barely get out of bed in the morning. I requested an early retirement from my job, losing much needed retirement benefits. Since my son's death, I have been under doctors care. I am 61 years old and I have been trying to work to make Jermaine's loan payments. I am trying to pay off Jermaine's loan, but I simply don't have the money -- and because of my crushing depression, I am barely able to work at all. To make matters worse, Jermaine left behind a young son whose mother doesn't have many resources. Therefore, she relies on me to help support Jermaine's son.

Nobody told me when i  cosigned the loan that I would be forced to pay them back even if my son died. Jermaine never had an opportunity to use his education and I can't use it either. I need help to get this loan forgiven and to change policies that will protect students and parents after the death of a student."