Losing your mother to cancer is a very big thing for any teenager. Sarah Phillips, 16, did something different – she made this heart wrenching tribute for her dying mother Debbie who was nearing the end of her four year old battle with cervical cancer.

“I had this song [Autumn] in mind as something that was really appropriate because there is this line that says: ‘You still live on in my father’s eyes.’ Mummy also liked Paulo Nutini’s music too.

“In the run-up to mummy’s death, I thought it was absolutely perfect but it was unrealistic for me to be able to sing it live at her funeral [because she would be too upset],” said Sarah.

“So I recorded it on my mobile phone in my bedroom at about 10pm [on February 10]. I looked the lyrics up on my computer – it was the first time I had seen them.

“I had said my ‘goodbye’ to mummy the day before. It was exactly as you would expect. I said: ‘I love you.’ She just said she wanted me to be happy, but she could not speak very much because her breathing was laboured.

“She was upset by what she would miss – our [her three children’s] weddings, having grandchildren. She would have been an amazing grandmother.”

Sarah mentioned the recording to her father three days after her mother’s death and a family friend, Charlie Mole, a professional score composer and songwriter, helped edit it and put it to music.

The video clips came from 70 hours of family recordings mainly recorded during family holidays abroad.

“I never appreciated how much mummy suffered because her priority was always to make sure we were not upset by her illness,” Sarah said.

“She was incredibly selfless – everything she did was for other people. I was always very close to my mother and we have always been a close-knit family. I have wonderful memories of us all together.”

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk