Mum’s heartbreaking tribute to son, 19, who died without warning while revising for exams just weeks before her wedding

A HEARTBROKEN mum has paid tribute to her teenage son who died without warning, just weeks before he was due to give her away at her wedding.

Stuart Waters-Manning, who always had "a smile on his face", was just 19 when he passed away in May this year, suffering a deadly seizure while studying for an exam.

With his mum's nuptials set for a couple weeks later, the teen had been planning to give her away.

Stuart, from North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, was diagnosed with epilepsy and autism in 2018 when he was 13 years old.

Since then, he'd suffered from occasional seizures, which tended to occur during the night.

The teen hadn't had one for over a year.

But on the day of his death - May 15 - Stuart suffered a seizure that caused his heart to stop.

An investigation into Stuart's death found that it was caused by Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

SUDEP is when someone who has epilepsy dies suddenly during or following a seizure and no other cause of death can be found.

According to the charity SUDEP Action, about one in 1,000 people with epilepsy lose their lives to the rare phenomenon every year.

Despite having seen many specialists about Stuart's epilepsy over the years, his mum Amanda Waters, 41, said they had never been warned about SUDEP.

"It's unbelievable that nobody even let us know about it," she told .

She now hopes to raise awareness around the condition.

SUDDEN LOSS

Stuart suffered a seizure over the Mother's Day weekend, but before that he hadn't had one in over a year and they tended to be "very rare".

Amanda said: "He can usually tell when they are coming on as he gets a taste in his mouth or it's almost like a stroke with his lips shaking.

"That morning he was absolutely fine. We were sat in the lounge having a chat with him at lunchtime, then he went up to do some revision for an exam he had the next day."

His family found him unresponsive around 5pm and paramedics pronounced him dead when they arrived shortly after at 5:45pm.

There was always a smile on his face. He had a contagious laugh. He had such a lovely personality

Amanda Waters

His mum said: "When he was having his seizure he couldn't come out of it and his heart stopped.

"The sad thing is we fly out in two weeks to get married and he was giving me away, so he has gone in his suit."

Stuart's funeral was held on June 26 and was attended by around 250 people.

More than £2,000 has been raised in his honour for LIVES and Epilepsy Action.

'A LOVELY PERSONALITY'

Amanda said: "Stuart was one of those that could just cheer you up in a second, or annoy you just as quickly.