'I want my little boy's body exhumed and moved because his grave keeps flooding'
The heartbroken mum of a teenager who tragically died said she now regrets burying him in a ‘waterlogged’ cemetery where his tributes get broken. Sarah Davies now wants the body of her son, Myron Davies, exhumed and moved to a new location.
Myron, 15, was pronounced dead following a fall at Abersychan quarry on July 6, 2022. A girl, aged 14 at the time, was also left in a critical condition following the incident.
The exact circumstances of Myron’s death are still unknown, while the family continue to wait for an inquest nearly two years on from the tragedy. Myron was buried at Cwmbran Cemetery in August, 2022, which Sarah believed would be the best place for him since he would be close to her brother, who is also buried at the site. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
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But now, whenever Sarah visits her only son’s grave, she “breaks down” in tears at the sight of it. The 39-year-old from Trevethin, Pontypool, said the plot was often muddy and flooded, while decorations and tributes left at the grave in Myron’s memory routinely get smashed up. A spokesman for Torfaen Council said staff were looking into the issues raised by Sarah and hoped to support her where possible.
Describing the problems at Myron’s grave, Sarah said: “At first, after we buried Myron there, everything seemed fine. However, we noticed that after about six months the grass had not regrown and it still hasn’t. There is someone who was buried after Myron and they have grass growing. Everytime you go there when it’s raining it is full of water and muddy.
“His cross [headstone] was once snapped in half, but my dad put it back in the ground. Plaques with little rhymes on have also been smashed. Myron liked snowglobes, so around Christmas time I put snow globes on his grave and they've been smashed too. I’ve got a bag full of stuff I want to put on his grave, but I don’t want to put it there because I’m scared it will get damaged. It’s heartbreaking and I don’t want him there.” Want less ads? Download WalesOnline’s Premium app on Apple or Android
Sarah said she was particularly upset to have encountered issues with her son’s grave because her brother’s was in a far better condition. She said she did not expect to have problems and to face having to move Myron.
She added: “Brother’s grave is fine. Myron’s grave gets worse than how it looks in the pictures I’ve taken - they are just the ones I have. When I look at the photos I feel so upset and I regret him being there. I get that they might get a bit waterlogged every now and then, but not every time like this.
“I can’t imagine his [decorations] have been broken by the weather because they were placed flat on the floor. It looks like someone has danced over his grave.”
Sarah said she had been in touch with the undertaker who carried out Myron’s funeral to see if she could get her son exhumed and moved to St Cadoc churchyard in Trevethin. She was glad to hear that it was possible, but it would come at a cost. “The funeral company is willing to help me,” Sarah said. “But I will need to pay for everything again. I will have to pay for a new coffin and a new plot. It will also take more time than a standard burial. In total it will cost between £2,000 and £3,000.”
To help raise money to get Myron moved, Sarah has set up a GoFundMe page. So far she has raised £50. She said it would mean “everything” to the family for this to go ahead, adding: “It’s on my mind all the time.”
Paying tribute to Myron, Sarah said: “He was good as gold and he loved life. He was outgoing and anyone who met him absolutely adored him. He had everything planned out for the future. He was in the top sets at school and he wanted to go to college when he left school and then university. He knew exactly what he wanted to do in life. He was interested in engineering and fixing machinery in factories.
“When I first had Myron it was just us until I met my partner when he was six-years-old. We had the best bond ever and were always together.”
Daniel Morelli, head of public protection and environment, responsible for cemeteries at Torfaen Council, said: “We are sorry to hear about Ms Davies’s concerns regarding her late son’s grave, and we are looking into the issues she has raised. We have been contacted by a funeral director regarding Ms Davies’s wish to have her son’s grave moved, and we are attempting to contact Ms Davies to see how we can support her.”