Mum to honour 'wonderful' son who died from cancer

Shelley Fountain lost her son Mason to cancer in July 2023 when he was just 18 years old

A mother who lost her son to a brain tumour at the age of 18 described him as a "wonderful boy".

Mason Fountain from Ipswich passed away last July after living with the tumour since he was five years old.

His mother, Shelley Fountain, 41, now plans to take part in a walk to support the hospice that cared for and helped Mason through his life.

Ms Fountain said St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich was his "safe space".

Mason was diagnosed with the brain tumour when he was five years old

"Mason went in [to the hospice] in April last year until he passed away in July," Ms Fountain explained.

"We weren't expecting to go in that long because our house was being adapted which took a lot longer than we were expecting.

"We honestly thought Mason was going to be coming home but unfortunately toward the end of July he started deteriorating and got pneumonia.

"He was transferred to Ipswich Hospital and he passed away."

'Their support was incredible'

Ms Fountain said the support from St Elizabeth had been "incredible", not only for herself and Mason but her five other children.

They were able to visit when they wanted and since Mason's passing, they have all had grief counselling through the hospice.

"We knew that Mason was well looked after there and they supported me to help look after him," Ms Fountain added.

The hospice has its own young adult service called Zest that supported Mason.

Through this he was able to take part in events and fun activities as respite away from home.

"Every three or four months he was able to go and stay from Friday to Monday for respite and to have some teenage time away from myself, his dad and his siblings just to be a normal 18-year-old," Ms Fountain explained.

"It was a huge part of Mason's life."

Ms Fountain said taking part in the Midnight Walk that the hospice holds yearly was incredibly important to thank the staff at St Elizabeth Hospice.

She will undertake the seven mile walk through the night with her daughter Scarlett in memory of Mason on 18 May.

Mason was a big Ipswich Town FC fan and his mother said he would have been "chuffed" over their recent league promotion

In just a few months it will be a year since Mason died.

Ms Fountain said the past 10 months had been "extremely hard" for the whole family but she said she had kept strong for her other children.

"They are my reason to carry on," she said.

"We just take each day as it comes as grief is a hard thing to explain - the emotions, the waves, it's just heartbreaking really."

Mason was a huge Ipswich Town football fan and Ms Fountain said he would have been "chuffed" for the team on their promotion to the Premier League.

"I hope he is partying up in heaven," she said.

"He was just a pleasure to be around and was always smiling and joking around.

"Mason was truly amazing, a wonderful boy."