Mum thanks stranger for replacing memorial bench

A mother has thanked a man who donated enough money to replace her son's memorial bench after it was "broken to pieces".

Sue Dook installed the bench in Central Park, Scunthorpe, in memory of her son Mathew, only for it to be destroyed in December.

After seeing the story on the BBC, Harold Payne, who owns a motel near Fleet Hargate, Holbeach, raised enough money at his cafe to purchase a replacement.

Sue said: "There are some nice people out there who are willing to go above and beyond and help other people. That kind of restores your faith in humanity."

Mathew, who was 19, died in 2013 from diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) – a condition caused by a severe lack of insulin.

Sue said she bought the bench on what would have been his 30th birthday and "specifically placed" it at a spot in Central Park.

Reflecting on the bench being vandalised, Sue said: "We were just absolutely devastated.

"It was a birthday present for him, for a birthday that he wasn't around for."

She added: "It's somewhere we can go, we can sit, we can think about him and now it's coming up to nicer days, I can meet family there and his friends can take the kids there."

Harold, who owns the Anglia Motel and D Day Cafe, said he had raised money for various charities and people over the years, including helping World War Two veterans to return to Normandy.

He wanted to do the same for Sue so a replacement bench could be bought.

"It really wound me up because it was something very special for his mother," he said.

"When you see something like that, what people have done, just sheer vandalism, it breaks your heart."

He raised the money by putting a bucket in his cafe, next to a sign explaining what had happened to Mathew's bench.

Sue said Harold was "a remarkable man" with "such a huge heart".

She hoped to donate money raised separately back to Harold and his charity "so he can pay it forward and go and help somebody else".

"That's what Mathew would want," she added.

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