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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
David Coleman

Disabled artist Alison Lapper attends funeral of teenage son after tragic death

Hundreds of bikers turned out to give the son of inspirational disabled woman Alison Lapper the best send off possible.

There were emotional scenes as Alison and her fiance Si Clift thanked the bikers for their kind gesture at the ceremony for Parys in Shoreham, West Sussex.

The 19-year-old, whose mum Alison was born without arms and with shortened legs, died suddenly earlier this week.

Alison, from Brighton, had fought for the right to keep her son.

She and Parys inspired a famous sculpture by artist Marc Quinn, which was put on display in Trafalgar Square 14 years ago.

The piece, titled 'Alison Lapper Pregnant', was on show from 2005 to 2007 and a giant replica of it featured in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony in London.

Alison Lapper and her partner thanking bikers who turned out for Parys (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Alison Lapper and her son Parys (Daily Mirror)

Si had urged bikers to attend the funeral and rev their engines as Parys passed by.

Speaking after news of Parys's death broke, Si wrote on Facebook : "We have received so many messages from people we know and those we don't offering unconditional support which has overwhelmed us.

"We have heard beautiful and supportive words spoken from unlikely sources and seen long lost friends brought back together.

"We can all be so amazingly kind, thoughtful and loving.

"Please take away from this a realisation that you are not alone, that you can talk and not to hold things within. What ever it is, there is help.

Alison Lapper thanks a young biker who turned out (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
His mum reached out via social media to bikers asking them to give him a send off (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

"Please take away from this that actions have consequences that may alter our lives irrevocably for the future."

And paying tribute to Parys he wrote: "Keep Parys in the forefront of your minds and hearts for a long while...he was a mischievous, generous, kind , loving, frustrating, cheeky, forgiving, beautiful boy.

"He was his own man. He was a good Son."

In an earlier post announcing the teenager's death, he said: "Ali fought many battles against the establishment to keep Parys, bringing him up by herself in some very difficult circumstances indeed and continued to fight for him through his teenage years.

Alison with son Parys when he was 14 (CAMERA PRESS/Andrew Hasson)
Emotional scenes as Alison thanks a biker (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

"Ali has expressed a dear wish that she would absolutely love to see as many noisy motorbikes as possible to escort Parys on his final journey from her home in Shoreham by sea to Worthing Crematorium on Thursday 29th to celebrate his life (he would have loved this too!)"

Miss Lapper, 54, said she could not stop crying when her son was born,  Mail Online reports.

The iconic statue that was on display in London (PA)
Alison Lapper plays with son Parys in touching archive footage

She said: "The emotions I felt were indescribable.

"I had never imagined I was going to be a mother, never thought it could be possible.

"But when they placed him on my shoulder and I gave him a little kiss on his head and said “hello”, I was overwhelmed."

Parys was one of 25 people to feature in the BBC programme Child of Our Time, which charts the course of the participants' lives until the age of 20.

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