By Charlene Kelly

A FIFE mother has told of her heartache after her baby son’s grave was desecrated by sick vandals.

Susie Wilson’s son Connor was born on April 18, 2005, with a condition known as non-immune hydrops-fetalis which occurs when there is an accumulation of fluid on the lungs and other parts of the body.

He was also diagnosed with an enlarged heart and placed in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Doctors warned Susie and her then partner, George, that there was a high chance their little boy may not survive but he managed to hold on for nine days.

Connor was buried near the family home at Methilmill Cemetery where his doting parents and big sisters, Chandice (6) and Louise (4), visit him regularly.

Sadly, since his burial, little Connor’s grave has become the target for heartless vandals and has been set upon no less than eight times.

“It makes me both so sad and so angry when it happens,” said Susie.

“George and I were so happy when Connor was born because he was the little boy we had always longed for but to lose him so soon after he was born was heartbreaking.

“Part of me died when we lost him—he was my little shining star.

“After he was buried, I began making a record of his life and it really helps me, on days when I am feeling particularly down and missing him, to read that and remember what a special little person he was.”

Susie, who is studying for an open learning life science degree and planning a career in medicine, also found solace in writing poems about her loss, one of which was recently published.

“I found it also helped to make his grave nice so I bought him colourful things like Bill and Ben flower pot men figurines, windmills and other little trinkets.

“My daughters also got involved and started to call the grave Connor’s little garden but time and time again things have been either broken or stolen.

“Some things have even been buried behind the headstone, which strikes me as a very calculated act.

“These people are cold and callous and deserve to be locked up for the amount of heartache they have brought upon my family.

“They thought the world of their little brother.”

Connor’s dad, George added, “You cope and try to move on but when you visit him and find something’s been broken or stolen it brings you back to the day he died and the pain of losing him comes flooding back.”

Both Susie and George would like to see some form of security installed at Methilmill such as CCTV.

Fife Council’s bereavement services manager Liz Murphy said she understood how upsetting the incidents were, but the council was limited as to how much security could be offered.

“We are aware there have been youths hanging about at Methilmill in the past, particularly at the older part of the graveyard, and will arrange for our cemetery security patrol to attend the area on a regular basis but they cannot be there all the time,” she said.

Chief Inspector for Levenmouth, Alan Turpie, said, “We are aware that vandalism can and does occur in graveyards and my sympathies go out to Mrs Wilson and her family.”

“We are working with the local authority and our other partners in central division to devise a strategy where we can prevent this type of thing from happening,” he added.

Police ask witnesses to vandalism in any Fife cemetery to call 01592 418888.