When teenager Stephen Sutton lost his battle with cancer last week, a nation mourned for someone who had stunned the world by raising more than £3m for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

His bucket list of things he wanted to achieve before his death, including raising £1m for charity, touched the hearts of the entire country.

When his mother paid a heartbreaking tribute to him online, everyone could feel her pain as she wrote: “My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain.”

For a parent, losing a child is one of the greatest traumas imaginable.

It goes against the natural order of things. It’s not what should happen.

For a mother, it is inconsolable, the awful reality Anne Pover has had to face over the past year, since losing her eldest son Richard to testicular cancer just a few weeks before his 22nd birthday.

He had had the brightest of futures ahead of him, studying for his masters degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Sheffield, when he was diagnosed in November 2011.

Despite high doses of chemotherapy, the cancer spread to his lungs and eventually his spine, which left him wheelchair dependent.

He then contracted an infection which weakened him until finally his body could fight no more.

Anne, her husband Dave and their two other sons Chris and Stephen, spent every possible moment with Richard at the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit where he received treatment in Sheffield.

But their lives were irreparably devastated when he lost his battle on June 13 last year.

Almost a year on, Anne, a teacher from Tarporley, says she is still struggling to come to terms with her loss.

“You should not lose a child – it’s wrong,” she says.

“When it’s someone like Richard, in the prime of his life who had the world at his feet, it makes it harder to understand.

“As a parent your role is to protect your child but you are completely helpless.

“My husband has always been the ‘fix it’ man, who can mend anything, but he couldn’t mend this.”

“This is something you just never get over. We would have given our own lives to save Richard.

Stephen Sutton who died earlier this month

“But he was always positive despite so many blows. He never once complained and always stayed upbeat.

“Before he died he wrote us a letter to say how many good times he’d had and that he’d had a wonderful 21 years – we take a much comfort in that.”

There are many unpleasant changes to get used to after you lose someone you love, and Anne admits she hasn’t found it easy to adjust, with one of the hardest parts being other people’s reactions to her grief.

“They just don’t know what to say,” she says.

“I don’t walk around crying all day but I often talk about Richard and it’s not unusual for nobody to pick up on that – you can see it’s uncomfortable for them. I feel that sometimes it’s almost like the comedy sketch – ‘don’t mention the war.’

"Some people do stop and talk to me and I might have tears in my eyes but I won’t sob. Nobody came to my house when it first happened – they were too scared. We don’t deal well with grief in this country, we don’t talk about it which is a great shame.”

“Little things can set me off, like the realisation that we’ve always been a family of five, and now we’re four.

“There’s a hole in our family that will never go away.  Even when it came to buying Easter eggs this year, I automatically found myself buying three.

“One good thing to come out of this is that my other sons have become closer,” explains Anne. "Richard always led the way and was a role model for his brothers. They really miss him. This has made us all realise how precious life is.

“As a mother, you spend so much time nurturing your child, so for me the loss is huge and the way I look at things has changed.”

When it comes to grieving for her son, Anne says she is trying to strike the right balance.

“I’ve read there are two types of grief – people who talk about it, look at pictures and cry, and those who put their head down and get on with it.

“The ideal is to be a bit of both, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” she says. "But I’m in the house more, surrounded by pictures and memories.  People empathise but will never understand unless they’ve been through it, which is why it’s such a help to talk to other bereaved parents.”

And Stephen Sutton’s death last week has resonated deeply with Anne.

“I’ve found Stephen’s death really hard – it’s brought it all back and I could relate to everything his mum said completely.”

“As for now, I take comfort in writing about how it feels to lose a son and reading about the experiences of other bereaved parents. I am determined Richard will not be forgotten, which is why we are hoping to set up a scholarship in his name at the University of Sheffield.

“The kindness of others has renewed my faith in humanity – there are some really lovely people out there.

“Sometimes misfortune can really bring out the best in people.”

And as Stephen Sutton said: “you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”

Fundraising walk in memory of Richard

On Saturday, June 14, a group of Richard's closest friends will mark the first anniversary of his death  by walking the 63-mile distance from Richard's memorial tree in Sheffield, all the way to Tarporley in 24 hours.

All proceeds raised from the walk will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust Unit, where Richard received treatment in Sheffield during his illness.

Anne said: "Richard was very lucky to have such a fantastic set of friends and we really appreciate that they are doing something positive to raise money around the first anniversary of his death.

"He genuinely believed he wouldn't have lasted as long without his friends. It gave him consolation to know how much he was loved by them."

To sponsor Richard's friends, visit www.justgiving.com/richards-walk-team-donations.