Grief-stricken woman's fundraising plea to bury her son in Northamptonshire months after loss of husband

A desperate woman from Towcester is appealing to the public's generosity to help fund her son's funeral after he died within seven months of his dad.

Mary Reed, 63, laid her husband, Richard, to rest in January this year after he passed away on New Year's Eve.

Richard faced a long 19-year battle with Huntington's disease but little did Mary know her son would also lose his life this month to a brain tumour.

Mary met lorry driver Richard 42 years ago at the Pomfret Arms in Towcester while she was working as a barmaid. Two years on they tied the knot and later went on to have their two sons.

She said: "He was a lorry driver for 26 years and he went all over the world, he loved his lorry.

"When he was about to leave work he went onto loving his garden and his car, so much so he would clean the wheels with a toothbrush.

"Richard was so proud of his boys. He was a great character and it's unbelievable he's gone. All I've seemed to do this year is sing hyms."

Christopher, who also had Huntington's disease, passed away on Monday, after battling two brain tumours .

She said the Liverpool fan “lived for Disney" and travelled to Disneyland Paris seven times with his step-sister.

She added: "I don't know what to do with my life now. I've not had a holiday in 18 years, I've not had a night away or nothing but it hasn't bothered me as a carer.

"He was a happy-go-lucky fella and the pair never moaned about nothing. Every day they would laugh together. Chris would ask 'how is your family?' to the carers."

Mary, who was doing her best to pay off her husband's funeral with her brother and sister's help, now says she has no money to give her son the send off he deserves.

"With my husband I had to rely on family," she said. "I could not go to my brother and sister again, they have done enough. Now I have to swallow my pride."

Mary needs a £1,000 deposit to give to the funeral directors on Wednesday, as part of the £3,208 total bill. To help her fund Christopher's send off, donate here.