Sheldon Lee Staten

Born 12th of June 1982
Died 18th of December 1998

Sheldon was born at 3pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon, his father was present for the birth. He was
a bundle of joy and a brother for Amanda. He weighed in at a whopping 8lb 8oz. There was a stream
of visitors, my mum, Rita, my mother in law, my sisters and brother, Carl’s brothers and sisters,
many friends. It was a wonderful time. Back home to Holbeck, where we lived for another two years.
He had two different coloured eyes a blue one and a brown one. That made him very special. He was
later joined by two more sisters Vicky and Danielle. His father and I split up, so he became the man
of the house, he was surrounded by girls, so he had a lovely soft nature. He was joined later by a
brother Jordan.
He wasn’t a troublesome or naughty child in fact he was quite a little superstar. He had the
normal childhood illnesses but if an accident was going to happen, it would happen to Sheldon. He
went to Bridlington one June on holiday with his dad and fell off a climbing frame and had to have
an operation for a broken arm, so his dad took him back in August to make up for it and he got
knocked down by a car. He slipped on some ice as a teenager and almost sliced his thumb off. Later
that year he went on work experience, working in a kitchen in a hotel and almost sliced the same
thumb off. First day back at school in his final year he slipped but he was so tall he hit his head
on the roof and had to be carted off to hospital again. He was the first patient in the new wing of
the Leeds General Infirmary, it was opened at 3pm and Sheldon was first through the door.
He was helpful and spent a lot of his time with me and his brother and sisters. I’m pleased he
got to travel we had a lovely holiday to Majorca. We had booked to go to Benidorm with my mum and
stepdad but Sheldon got Salmonella food poisoning and was in the hospital for a week in isolation,
so our holiday was put back for a week, we caught up with my mum for the last week of her holiday.
Luckily there were no accidents.
He got to go to Puerto Rico for 3 weeks with my brother his wife and son Gary. I’ve got video
footage of him on his jollys, it’s a great comfort to watch and I can hear his voice.
Amanda had a baby and Sheldon named her, Shannon Leigh he was always out with her on his shoulders,
always helping Amanda with Shannon.
He decided to stay on at school but that wasn’t working for him, so he left and got a job through
an agency at a local factory called Ring. He also worked at the local supermarket Kwik Save at the
weekends. He was happy working and doing what he wanted to do and spending his money on what he
wanted to spend it on and not having to rely on his mum for cash. I remember the last time I saw
Sheldon alive, he came in to say goodnight and tell me his plans for the following day after work.
I gave him a kiss and told him I’d see him when he got home, only he never came home, I wish I’d
have told him that I loved him before he went to bed.
The first I knew there was a problem was when the agency rang to see if Sheldon had left for work, I
told them he had and left it at that. They rang back to tell me that there had been a problem with
the British Transport Police, I thought he’s probably been arrested for crossing near the railway
lines and because he was a minor that they’d need me to come down as mums do.
When I saw two police officers walking up the garden path I knew immediately, I knew he was dead, I
said to the police officers, “he’s dead isn’t he “they asked me a few questions and showed
me a wage slip of Sheldons. They kept saying “the body of a man” has been found by the side of
the railway track, the body of a man, they were talking about my son, to them he might have looked
like a man but to me he was still a boy, even though he was 6ft 3in tall, to me he was still a boy.
I took off running up the street I didn’t know where I was going I just knew I had to run away. I
ran back to my house jumped in my car and drove round to Sheldons dads’ house, I went straight in
and told his wife I had to see Carl. He’s dead I told him Sheldons dead. Carl and his wife came
back round to my house with me. The police were still there. They explained what had happened to
Carl, friends and family turned up on hearing the bad news, I didn’t know what to do or who to
talk to so I just started washing the pots, everyone was milling around but I just carried on
washing the pots.
An appointment had been made at the mortuary at Leeds General Infirmary to identify Sheldons body,
we drove down in silence, what can anyone say to you, you’re whole worlds just been ripped apart
and no words can take away the pain and the tears. When the sheet was taken from off his body I
could see it was my son my little boy, I had to open his eyes to check I could see it was his body
but I had to look at his eyes to check, to see if he had a blue eye and a brown eye. Sheldon
didn’t have the best complexion, but on that slab in the mortuary his skin was perfect. He looked
like a little boy again, my little boy yet he was 16 and gone from this earth and gone from his
family that love and miss him.
Sheldon was 16yrs old and was killed in a tragic accident, an inquest recorded a verdict of
accidental death.

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