John loved scuba diving and dreamed of becoming an ocean paleontologist (Picture: PA Real Life)

A grieving mum fulfilled her son’s dying wish by having his body turned into an artificial coral reef.

Just months before John Flowers died from a rare brain cancer at the age of 20, he told his mum he wanted his ashes to be placed in a concrete ‘reef ball’ in the sea.

His mum Phyliss, 66, from Sarasota, Florida, said he asked for his brain and spine to be used for for research into his condition, but for the rest of his body to become part of the Eternal Reef – which is made almost entirely of balls containing people’s ashes.

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Costing around $5,000 (£4,109), reef balls are made from a special concrete mixed with cremation ash, so they act like natural coral – providing a habitat for ocean fish.




John’s reef ball also contained diving mementos – including dinosaur teeth, his first dive knife and his dog tags. It was the 700th ball to be released in the Gulf of Mexico.

John with his mum Phyllis, after his cancer diagnosis and treatment had begun (Picture: PA Real Life)

When John got a place studying marine science at the University of West Florida, he was on his way to realising his dream of studying fossils and prehistoric creatures as an ocean palaeontologist.

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But after coming home from his first term at university, he started seeing red spots in front of his eyes.

‘I thought they were just from working too hard on the computer,’ said Phyliss. ‘I took him to the eye doctor, thinking that we were going in for glasses.

‘But we were sent to the hospital for an MRI,where they found inoperable brain cancer.’

When John was about ten, he won a competition in Florida for this painting of himself diving (Picture: PA Real Life)

John was diagnosed with a rare glioneuronal tumour on December 29, 2014. This is a form of cancer that spreads throughout the brain and nervous system, and cannot be removed by surgery.

He underwent chemo and radiotherapy, but in July 2015 doctors told him that he should start planning for his death.

‘He had been to his grandparents’ funerals and he said he just didn’t want his own to be sad,’ Phyliss said. ‘That’s why he wanted to be part of the Eternal Reef.’

The Eternal Reef, in the Gulf of Mexico (Picture: Eternal Reefs/YouTube)

John had loved diving from the age of six, helped by the fact that he grew up next to the beach in Florida.

‘When he was 14, he went shark diving, and we went all over the place to allow him to scuba dive,’ she said.

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‘At first I was nervous, but I knew I had to let him do what made him happy.’

John passed away peacefully at home on July 26, 2016, with his family and friends by his side.

After cremation, his ashes were divided into three boxes.

Phyllis and 13 other families released the balls into the sea together (Picture: Eternal Reefs/YouTube)

One was placed at the site of his first ever dive, off the coast of Destin, and the second was placed at Oriskany – a sunken aircraft carrier off Pensacola.

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The third box of ashes was then made into a reef ball.

In October 2015, Phyllis and around 13 other families went out on a boat to release the balls.

‘The crew helped to hold a lovely service on the boat,’ said Phyliss.

John’s reef ball (Picture: PA Real Life)

‘They go out and they say the person’s name and put the reef down. They make it like a funeral.



‘You look out at the water and you realise that your dead loved ones are giving a gift back, which makes you feel happy.

‘I knew that my son would be happy with what was going on. It made perfect sense.’

Reef balls cost around $5000 (Picture: PA Real Life/EternalReefs.com)

Phyliss said she was so touched by the experience that she has changed her will, so her ashes will be buried in the Eternal Reef too.

‘One of the last things that John said to me was, “Mum, when you go to the beach and see the dolphins, one of them will be me”,’ she added.

‘It’s very rare now that I go to the beach and don’t see a dolphin.

‘It’s beautiful, and that brings me some comfort.’