‘The last text I got from him was, I love you’...
Mum’s heartfelt tribute to loving son she found lifeless at home
A heart-broken mum has been left devastated after finding her beloved 16-yearold son dead at their home in Grangetown.
Thomas Brookes died suddenly at the home he shared with mum Helen Wardropper in Westheath Avenue, Grangetown, on Saturday, September 28.
The devastated mum tried desperately to save her boy after finding him lifeless at home, but was unable to.
“I just found him. I tried to resuscitate him, but failed,” Helen said.
“The ambulance came, but he had already gone. There was nothing I could do.
Now Helen says she has been amazed by the reaction from 16-year-old Thomas’ friends and has been to two of three balloon releases organised in his memory following his unexplained death.
Thomas had suffered from mental health issues and Helen has been taken aback by the number of people who have come forward to say he had helped them with their own struggles.
“He was like a mix between Del Boy and Dennis the Menace. He always liked a joke, he always liked a laugh. He always liked to wind you up,” she said.
“What has got me through is the overwhelming number of messages of support I have had from people about the positive difference he had made to their lives.
“The last text I got from him was ‘I love you’.” The former Hill View Infants and Juniors and Southmoor Academy pupil had been looking forward to a new chapter in his life when he sadly died at home.
Helen said: “He started college, but decided that it was not for him. He had an interview lined up three days after he died for Ryhope Post Office.”
Thomas had loved going to the Stadium of Light with dad David when he was younger and later got a Saturday job at the ground.
Helen said: “He loved it because he used to get the leftover chicken balti pies .
“He loved serving people, but he did not like the fact he was not on CEO wages .”
Northumbria Police says Thomas’ death is not being treated as suspicious and the family now faces an agonising wait to find out how and why he died.
A funeral service for Thomas will be held at Sunderland Crematorium at 10.30am on Tuesday.