Disabled artist Alison Lapper's son Parys dies Published duration 27 August 2019

image caption Parys Lapper appeared on the BBC series Child Of Our Time in 2010

The son of a disabled artist who posed for a famous Trafalgar Square sculpture while pregnant with him has died aged 19.

Parys Lapper died suddenly last week, his family said.

His mother Alison Lapper, who was born with shortened legs and no arms, posed nude for the artwork mounted on the square's fourth plinth in 2005.

Her fiance has appealed to bikers to escort Parys on his final journey to Worthing Crematorium on Thursday.

On Facebook Si Clift said Parys was a "mischievous, generous, kind, loving, frustrating, cheeky, forgiving, beautiful boy".

He was "his own man" and "a good son", Mr Clift said.

image copyright Getty Images image caption The marble sculpture of Alison Lapper by Marc Quinn stood in Trafalgar Square between 2005 and 2007

Mr Clift said he and Ms Lapper had been "blown away" by people's kindness, humbled by their kind sentiments, and overwhelmed by messages of support.

He added: "Please take away from this a realisation that you are not alone, that you can talk and not to hold things within.

"Whatever it is, there is help."

Ms Lapper "would absolutely love to see as many noisy motorbikes as possible to escort Parys on his final journey", he said.

Open house

They will accompany him from her home in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.

The family is also holding an open house on Tuesday evening for his friends to decorate, paint, stick messages or sign their names on his empty coffin.

Ms Lapper co-hosted the 2016 BBC Four show No Body's Perfect with fashion photographer Rankin, exploring how digital photography, social media and selfie culture had affected people's sense of identity.

Parys also made appearances on screen as one of the stars on the BBC series Child Of Our Time, which tracks millennial babies from their infancy into their young adult lives.

image caption Ms Lapper co-hosted the BBC Four series No Body's Perfect