Tony Bradbury

Tony was my son but also my friend. He found it hard to mix with people and turned to alcohol to
give himself confidence and in the end it was this that took his short life away from his three
brothers and his sister his dad his aunties uncles cousins grandparents nephews and nieces and of
course myself. He did have many friends so many i cant name them all He was an angel when he was
sober but a little devil when he had had a few beers. Its coming up to our Tonys 23rd birthday so i
thought i would update his memorial.It still feels like yesterday and i can still remember every
single detail of that day anyone who as lost their child will know what i mean the friday before
this happened we had had a falling out nothing unusual coz he was a little pest when he was drunk he
went sitting in the entry next to our house and i went in the bath i could hear him calling me "mum
"mum " i had locked the door until he had calmed down then when he went quiet i crept down and
unlocked the door coz i knew he would come in later, i lied in bed waiting to hear him come in then
he went in his room and only then could i fall asleep knowing he was safe,the next morning when i
got up for work he normally would be waiting outside the bedroom door to wind me up but he wernt so
just before i left for work i crept into his room to check he was ok and he looked so peacefull fast
asleep i went to work feeling happy. Around 12.30 on my way home from work i went a different way
home never done this before because the way i went was longer and i even waited in traffic when
there was none my usual way,i got home and it was silent but i could hear our tonys radio on in his
room but no noise so thought he might still be asleep,i then went to pick his dad up from work and
when we arrived back home i said to him listen he said what to i said its to quiet then my sister
rang and said she had passed an ambulance just around corner on my usual route home she asked was
our tony in but that was normal because everytime anything happened we always thought about him
being in trouble within 10 mins i had a phone call of a girl asking if our tony was ok i didnt want
to check his room i was to scared to. so i rang hospital and asked if he had been taken to hospital
and the nurse who answewed asked who i was and said she would ring me back as i put the phone down
and looked through the window i saw a woman look towards our house i knew then he had gone i said to
his dad when the police come to tell us dont open door at that moment i saw a car pull onto the
front of our house i just ran upstairs screaming dont tell me dont tell me i already knew i had lost
my baby boy. I remember them asking me to identify him a few days later and when i went to the
mortuary i saw him and he looked so happy i turned to the officer there and said he dont look like
hes dead to me and i know this sounds so stupid but i really thought they had made a mistake it was
only a few days later when i had not seen him that i began to realise he wernt going to come home
again It seems he had fallen drunk and a so called friend had run of and left him on a field to this
day i think if this person would have called an ambulance he would still be here,an old lady in her
late 80s i would say found him and tried to save him god bless her she tried all she could i went to
see her and she said she tried to bring him round but couldnt i cant thank this kind lady enough.I
have just found out a young lad found him first and ran to call an ambulance i only found this out a
few days ago and have still to thank him for doing so . Tony wasnt my youngest but he was in my eyes
my baby and will always be my baby,You know what i still feel the same pain today as i did that day
it wont ever go away and i dont want it to coz i wont ever forget him even for an hour. At his
funeral about a week later his three brothers and his cousin john who he was close to carried him
into church this was the first time i had seen his coffin it was heartbreaking and his eldest
brother warren stood up to speak about him it must of been so hard for him but he did him proud and
me to.lots of people came except the so called friend who i hope i never see again..you never really
spoke about your friends but since we lost you so many have told me things you did some funny some
proper daft but that was you lad didnt think about the consequences you didnt bother .love you so
much , MISS YOU MY BEAUTIFUL SON SO MUCH WILL THINK ABOUT YOU EVERY SECOND OF EVERYDAY. I DO BELIEVE
YOU ARE IN A BETTER PLACE AND WHEN IT COMES MY TIME TO GO I WILL BE SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN. ALL
MY LOVE NOW AND ALWAYS FOR EVER AND EVER LOVE MUM XXXXXXXX AND IF YOUR READING THIS LOVE I DID FEEL
THE KISS YOU GAVE ME WHEN I WAS ALMOST ASLEEP AND IT FELT SO NICE.