In the early hours of October 7, Katrina Stevens waited in a car outside a northern cemetery while undertakers completed the solemn task of exhuming the body of the baby boy she'd lost 17 years before.

The tot, who'd she named Nathan, died from a rare immune system disorder called HLH. He was only 22 months old.

After the tiny coffin was raised, a cremation service was held, attended by Katrina and her partner Steven before they made the 260-mile journey back home to Kent.

In the near two decades since Nathan's death, his 39-year-old mum has been touched again and again by tragedy and is now pinning her hopes on the kindness of strangers.

She is trying to raise £1,500 for a headstone on the grave containing not just Nathan's remains, but those of her son Samuel, who was stillborn in 2016, and grandchildren Abi and Kaleb.

The Blackburn-born carer said: "It's been terrible losing them all, but we're trying to make sure they have a resting place which is fitting."

She explained how Abi and Kaleb were born to her son Steven's partner Jade, 26.

Abi was stillborn at 32 weeks on September 9 last year, while in a tragic twist Kaleb passed away last month – a year to the day they lost his sister.

He'd lived for 87 days having being born with a number of complex health problems.

He was taken to Demelza Hospice Care for Children near Sittingbourne after stays in Medway Maritime, Gillingham, and St Thomas' Hospital, London.

Jade, of Hoopers Road, Rochester, who describes the ordeal as like having her "heart torn out and stamped on", has started selling the baby clothes she'd bought for Kaleb to help raise funds for the memorial.

On Saturday, the ashes of all four were placed in a casket and buried in the graveyard of St Werburgh Church, near the family home in Main Road, Hoo.

Katrina, who moved to the county 10 years ago after meeting her former partner online, has started a GoFundMe to pay for the headstone.

She said: "I had to get special permission from the Home Office to have Nathan exhumed, and the whole procedure ended up costing £900, which has left us with nothing."

At the time of writing, people had donated almost £650 towards the total after it had been highlighted on social media.

Katrina added: "It means so much to us that so many people are helping. We'd never expected this to happen and words cannot explain how grateful we are."

Recalling Nathan's cremation, she said: "The funny thing was I was so happy to 'see' him again. I'd buried him once and there we were. I cried tears of joy before bringing him home to be close to me.

"During the service, they played the song Dancing in the Sky by Dani and Lizzy, which made the whole thing really emotional, but it was beautiful."

She does not have a date in mind for the headstone's erection because the total has not been reached and lockdown regulations mean it might be some time once it has.

"Whenever it happens will be great," she said. "It's been heartbreaking what we've all been through, but we know we have all four of them here close to us now, and they're going nowhere."

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