Soldier’s mum in plea for help
THE grieving mum of a soldier killed in Iraq has suffered further heartache after losing her late son’s dog tags and St Christopher pendant in the Yorkshire Dales.
Last month Lance Corporal Scott Hetherington, from Middleton, died aged 22 in a “tragic accident” while serving with The 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
His mother Anne Hetherington was training for the Three Peaks’ Challenge on Peny-ghent on Sunday when the tags fell off.
She is scaling the three highest peaks in Yorkshire to raise money for L/Cpl Hetherington’s four-month old daughter Safaya-Rose. It would mean “the absolute world” if she got the tags back, said Anne. “I’ve got Scott back a bit when I touch them, because I know he had them on. They’ve gone through Afghanistan, The Falklands. They’ve been everywhere with him. I never thought they’d come undone.” Anne realised the tags were missing on her way home. The chains were still around her neck, but they had come undone and the tags had slipped off. She started the climb at 10am. She took the red route up and the gentle slope on the opposite side down. “I’m always touching the pendants. I only take them off for the shower. They mean absolutely everything. Scott’s grandma bought him the St Christopher pendant when he joined the army cadets at 11.”
She hopes funds raised from the Three Peaks Challenge will enable Scott’s partner Savannah to finish refurbishing the house Scott had bought for his family.
Her son intended to use his pay from Iraq to do up the garden, Anne said.
L/Cpl Hetherington was the first British soldier to die in Iraq since 2009. The inquest into his death has been adjourned.
I’ve got Scott back a bit when I touch the tags, because I know he had them on Anne Hetherington