Instead of celebrating Christmas this year, the family of tragic E.coli victim Mason Jones will be spending Christmas Eve – the day when he would have turned six – at his graveside.
Five-year-old Mason died from E. coli poisoning at Bristol Children’s Hospital, after the infection caused his kidneys to fail. His was the only death out of more than 170 children, parents and elderly people who contracted E.coli 0157, as it swept through at least 42 schools, hundreds of families and some old folks’ homes in South Wales.
His room remains untouched since the day he was admitted to hospital, his dressing gown lying on the lower bunk that he shared with big brother Chandler. Chandler also contracted the disease but was able to recover.
On Christmas Eve, Sharon, Nathan, Chandler and baby Cavan will release balloons in Mason’s memory and leave him a new dinosaur at his grave, as investigators look into the nature of how he died.