City Council Forces Removal Of 4 Year Old Boy’s Headstone After Family Complains

We can also have many awful things take place to us in our lives however one of the worst matters that might occur to a discern is to lose a child. when a infant dies, the mother and father never get over the loss and it's far specially difficult for a unmarried mom. Of direction, any loss in this way is going to affect us on a totally deep level. that's what passed off to Jo Corbet-Weeks. If that wasn’t sufficient for this forty two-year-antique mom, she also had to endure some thing else that no discern must bear.



The city council leader in their metropolis determined that the headstone of her four-yr-vintage son needed to be removed. It become shaped like a star however in 2015, it turned into eliminated from its location. The mother changed into outraged by what befell and she or he become justified in feeling that way. after all, the cause why her son’s gravestone changed into removed was that one family complained. They felt that the famous person-fashioned headstone was no longer in step with the relaxation of the headstones in that a part of the cemetery.

Max Corbet-Gardener struggled with epilepsy in the course of his lifestyles. He became only four years antique when he died.



It took a number of years however in the end, his mother turned into capable of store enough money for a distinctiveness headstone. It had a teddy endure preserving a celebrity.

She had spent greater than $four,500 for the unique headstone. It was imagined to be a lasting memorial for her son at the top notch Malvern Cemetary in Worcestershire.

Max became buried next to other own family contributors within the grownup place of the cemetery. The carrier that was hung on his 7th birthday turned into specifically hard. It turned into most effective 3 days later, but, that the headstone changed into eliminated without warning.

The mother had the following to say in a BBC interview:



"It would have been Max’s seventh birthday on Sunday, and this was like a birthday present to him from me. I chose a star-shaped stone because I wanted something suitable for Max – something personal… This stone is just so perfect for my poor little chap.”

She later found out that one family had complained to the Malvern Town Council that it wasn’t ‘in keeping’ with the other headstones in the cemetery. The mother said that the headstone was removed without her consent and without advance notice. She now is demanding it is returned:

"I was totally unaware this was going on. The council did not contact me and it was the stonemason who told me he’d been ordered to remove it. I feel upset, distressed and angry. We have been through so much as a family. I could understand if the grave was uncared for or unsightly, but it isn’t.



The headstone meant a lot to me and the family but now we are fighting to have it put back. It’s a horrible situation. We just want to have somewhere to grieve. ”



The council claims that the application for the headstone was not received in time. If it has been sent, they would have allowed it. They also said that it wouldn’t have been an issue if other star-shaped headstones were in the area.

A Malvern Town Council spokesman told BBC that they had to adhere to a uniform code for headstone shapes. When people complain about the shape of a headstone, they can’t stay in the area.



They said that the decision was not easy to make but they felt it was necessary. The council said it was not really about the shape, it was about protocol. They are planning on meeting with the family to discuss a new headstone design.

A petition was ongoing at the end of 2016 and over 56,000 signatures had been gathered. They wanted the headstone restored to the original location.