Legacy MattersA year ago, several hours after he'd gone to bed, their apparently healthy teenage son George was dead - killed by an undiagnosed tumour that had taken only a few weeks to grow.
It had been a great day and George was in high spirits. A gifted sportsman, he'd spent the afternoon playing football and later enjoyed a meal at the family home in Romsey, Hants, with his parents and younger brother Harry, then 14.At 10.30 pm, George gave his mother, Jane, a goodnight kiss and headed for bed.
Three hours later, she was woken by George calling out that he couldn't breathe. They were his last words. As she rushed in to his room, George was sitting up in bed, clearly disorientated, his lips and face a sinister purply blue. Jane, now 51, ran to call an ambulance and was back in his room with the phone within seconds, only to see George collapse backwards and fall out of bed. As she went to him, she could see that he had stopped breathing.
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George, a chorister at Romsey Abbey since the age of seven, had a deep religious faith. A chaplain prayed over George as the machines were switched off. 'Then, as she anointed him, the most extraordinary thing happened,' says Joe.
'The machine stopped bleeping and as he died a visible wave of peace came over George. His body relaxed, his head returned to its normal size and George was George again. The doctors were at a loss as to how that had happened to someone who had undergone such trauma.'
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George's funeral, at the beautiful abbey where he had spent many years singing, was attended by nearly 600 people.