“I’ve been working on it since January, but it hasn’t been a chore at all. With every brick, I’ve been thinking about what it is for me and how much it means to me.
“I can’t do much else for Nathan now, this is all I can do. His friends don’t like going to the cemetery, but they can come here to remember him instead.”
Builder Philip Butler constructed the stand at Porthill Park Cricket Club with his own hands as a lasting tribute to his son Nathan, who died suddenly from an undiagnosed heart condition, aged 16.
Mr Butler had a constant stream of helpers in the form of family members, including Nathan’s brother Josh, aged 15, and his late son’s many friends.
He said: “it’s been hard for Josh because he looked up to Nathan and has always followed in his footsteps as a keen footballer and cricketer. But he’s been very strong.
“Nathan’s friends have been great with him and have really taken him under their wing.
“They’re at the age now when they could go out on their own, but they include him in everything they do and often come round to our house to play poker instead.
“His friends are now leaving college, having 18th birthdays, and passing their driving tests. It is little things like that that remind you what Nathan should have been doing.
“Living with the fact that he has died doesn’t get any easier, but we can cope more now. When it first happened, I thought I would never get over it.
“It’s particularly hard at birthdays and Christmas, but we’re such a close family that there’s always somebody on the end of the phone.”
Cricket legend Sir Ian Botham OBE officially opened the stand yesterday in front of hundreds of club members, family and friends.
The former England captain said: “It’s very sad what happened to Nathan. It’s a shame we are here for sad reasons, but this family has turned a tragedy around into something positive.
“I’m so impressed with what they and the club have done.”
Nathan’s mother Angela, aged 48, contacted Sir Ian in his capacity as honorary president of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which supports families affected by tragedies such as Nathan’s.
She was shocked when she received a reply in April saying he would be happy to attending an unveiling – and her surprise turned to panic when he suggested yesterday.
“I had got tickets to see the Sound of Music and the stand was only half finished. “So we sold the tickets and everybody worked full pelt to get the stand finished.
“They were here from seven in the morning until 11 at night. Everybody’s been fantastic – they’ve really shown their support.
“I said to Nathan this morning, ‘For God’s sake keep the rain off!’ and he managed it! All the lads here were his friends from primary school and they were like brothers. They don’t remember a time without him.”
Mr Butler, aged 46, of Hassam Parade, Wolstanton, said he was thrilled by Sir Ian’s involvement as he had been a role model for Nathan, who read the star’s autobiography at the age of 10.
“Like Nathan, Botham was an all-rounder with a big character ,” he said. “He loves life and is really famous for his antics off the field.
“He’s been brilliant. I was a bit apprehensive at first, wondering if he would be aloof. But he’s lovely, very down to earth, and he puts you at ease.”
Nathan was studying music technology at Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and hoped t go on to work for Signal Radio.
As well as presenting Porthill Parka at Staffordshire at cricket, he was a football referee and lifeguard and also worked as a DJ at weddings and parties.
He was nicknamed Trigger, after the comic character in Only Fools and Horses, because of his ability to make people laugh.
Nathan was found collapsed on his bedroom floor by his mother when she returned from work on February 22, 2006.
She immediately called an ambulance, but paramedics were unable to revive him.
An inquest ruled that he probably died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, caused by muscles thickening around his heart which restricted the blood flow.
Almost 1,00 people packed in St Wulstan’s Church for his funeral. Since the tragedy, Nathan’s family, friends and former team-mates have raised more than £17,000 in his memory, which has been split between the cricket club and CRY.
The family is also campaigning for youngsters to be screened for the hereditary defect, as happens in Italy and France. Tests showed Mr butler could be at risk and will need further examination, while Josh is screened every six months.
Mt Butler said: “When I found out the gene had come from my side of the family, I just wished it had affected me rather than Nathan. I’ve had my life, but Nathan had just started his.”
Sir Ian backed CRY’s campaign to get all young people screened for the condition.
He said: “This sort of tragedy should not happening. Instead of spending £14 million teaching kids how to behave, which should be done at home anyway, we should spend it on buses to go round schools testing pupils. To me that’s just common sense.”
Next year, the family hope to raise another £2,000 to build a bridge from the pavilion to the stand.
Youngsters die every week from disorders
Sudden Cardiac Death is an umbrella terms used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.
Experts estimate that at least eight young people die suddenly each week in the UK of cardiac abnormalities – sudden death syndrome, or sudden cardiac death.
The majority of young sudden cardiac deaths are due to inherited forms of heart muscle disorder and irregular heart beat.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is the most common of these conditions. Sports youngsters stress their heart the most. If they have an underlying cardiac abnormality they are more likely to be at risk.
Sport itself doe not lead to cardiac arrest, but it can act as a trigger for a young person by exacerbating an undetected condition.
The organisation Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) raises awareness of the symptoms of cardiac abnormalities and conditions which can lead to sudden cardiac death, while emphasising what can be done to help young people who have been diagnosed as having a cardiac abnormality.
Conditions which, if undetected, can lead to sudden cardiac death include Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (RCM) and Myocarditis.
As well as Sir Ian CRY patrons include Olympic rower Sir Steven Redgrave CBE, rugby union star Rob Andrews MBE, and tennis player Jeremy Bates.
