A devastated mother is faced with the unbearable reality of saying farewell to her third child.
James Digweed, a 45 year old father from Bootle, Liverpool, and loving dad to 10 children, tragically left the world on February 10 after what appeared to be a heart attack but was later identified as an upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage linked to a stomach ulcer.
Ann Digweed, James's heartbroken mother, shared her pain: "Every day I wake up is a nightmare. I miss him so much. Every day I used to get a phone call from him - morning, noon and night.
"He was a loveable person, always laughing and very talkative. He just wanted to make people happy."
Before his untimely passing, James suffered from an accident whilst on his bike, swerving to miss out on hitting a child, which resulted in him sustaining broken ribs just one week prior to his death, reports the Manchester Evening News.
On that fateful day, Ann was heading to James's abode to escort him to a hospital appointment when she received the terrible news via a call from James's partner, alerting her that paramedics were present at his house, according to the Liverpool Echo.
Arriving in distress, Ann confronted a police officer at the site to learn about her son's fate. Recounting the traumatic experience, she stated: "I asked her, where's my boy?" overwhelmed by concern for James.
"I was shouting for James. And she told me he'd died. They let me in and he was there in bed. It was horrendous. It was soul-destroying."
After James passed away, Ann was still grappling with the shock of her youngest son John Paul's sudden death at 35 in April the previous year.
Ann, who has four remaining daughters and a brood of 37 grandchildren, also endured the heartbreak of losing another child when her baby daughter Clair succumbed to cot death at just 14 weeks old in 1983. This tragedy left Ann in a state of constant vigilance over her other children.
"I was watching every movement - I couldn't rest," Ann recounted. "Clair will never be forgotten. The kids all knew about her growing up."
Their sorrow deepened upon learning that Clair was entangled in the Alder Hey organ retention scandal. In the '90s, news emerged that hundreds of babies and young children's organs had been retained without parental consent for decades.
Ann recalls the chilling phone call where she learned that Clair's heart had been preserved and was available for collection. Yet due to a dispute regarding the plot deeds, Clair's heart still remains unburied.
She keeps framed pictures of James, Johnny, and Clair on her mantelpiece in Bootle, determined to lay them to rest side by side.
"You don't expect to bury your children," Ann expressed. "I don't like the thought of Clair being in this big grave on her own. I want to put my boys at rest with their baby sister. I want them all to be at peace together."
The funeral service for James is scheduled for 1pm on April 25 at St Robert Bellarmine Church, followed by his burial at Bootle Cemetery where balloons will be released at his graveside.
Johnny's ashes will be laid to rest in the same coffin, along with Clair's heart. The family have planned to perform a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' during the ceremony.
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