A SON’S pain at the tragic loss of his mother has been eased by the support that his family has received from the Southampton community.

Devin Valentine’s mother, Suzie Summers, is believed to have taken her own life earlier this month, leaving Devin and his four-year-old sister, Emily.

As well as having to deal with the heartbreak of losing his mother, Devin had been struggling to deal with the practical and financial issues arising from the death.

With no family savings, Devin, from Newtown, Southampton, was faced with the prospect of having to rely on the state to provide a funeral and potentially not knowing when or where it had happened.

In desperation, he posted an appeal on a crowdfunding website, and was overwhelmed when friends and strangers donated his fundraising target for the funeral, of £1,500, in less than 24 hours.

“It was incredibly overwhelming to raise the target so quickly and to double it a day later,” says Devin, 24, who works at The Art House and is a learning support assistant at the University of Southampton.

“I do a lot of community work in Southampton and I really care about the community, and it felt really nice to have that come back to me,” adds Devin, who helped organise the Hampshire Reclaim the Night event last year, among other community efforts.

Extra funds raised through the appeal are being used to pay for additional costs related to Suzie’s death, such as clearing her house, with a fund being set up for little Emily.

Suzie was a single parent and Emily has been taken in by relatives who have a daughter the same age, and will be raised within the family.

“The money will be there to help with things like school uniform and books for her as she gets older,” says Devin.

“The family are taking her in and are going to raise her as their daughter, but they will get very little financial assistance, so this will help.”

Devin says that Emily was his mother’s great joy in life.

“Her grief overcame even her immense love for her little girl, who in her own words, was the only person who kept her alive for the past four and a half years,” he says.

“My mother was a really complicated person. She had borderline personality disorder, which made her relationship with the world chaotic.

“She found most hope and joy in her relationship with my sister, but despite having Emily, the pain she was in overwhelmed her.”

Devin says that as well as her mental health issues, his mother suffered from a number of debilitating physical ailments and had also had traumatic past experiences.

He adds that recent events had added to her stresses.

“She was so worried about the outcome of a PIP assessment and had had to bring up everything that had happened to her,” he says.

“She was worried that she would lose her house and have no safety net.

“I respect her decision to end her own life and I understand it,” he adds.

Devin says that being supported by his and his mother’s friends and the wider community has been a great comfort to him and his family at such a difficult time.

To date, the appeal has raised more than £3,100. Devin does not have a further fundraising target but is keen to raise more money to help support his little sister and give her the best life possible with her new family.

“The day I put the appeal online I just didn’t want to have to deal with any of it anymore,” he says.

“The next day, it was such a sense of relief. There have been a number of anonymous donations, including one of £500, which is incredibly generous.

“I know people haven’t given for the thanks but all the kindness we have been shown really takes the pressure off of us, and it will echo in actions.

"I think all the good things we do in the future will have a bit of the kindness that we have been shown in them.”

Suzie Summers’ funeral is taking place today. A date has not yet been set for her inquest.

To donate visit https://www.youcaring.com/suziesummers-905713.