Mum of dead Dagenham snooker star in appeal for perfect tribute

Billy O'Connor, aged 16 at 24-hour snookathon at Upton Park Snooker Hall to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust (Image: Archant)

Billy O’Connor, who captained the under-16 England snooker team, fought cancer for three years despite being given just two days to live when he was 15.

Mum Debbie O’Connor, 56, says his death in December aged just 18 left her heartbroken but determined to remember him with a snooker-themed headstone and charity tournaments later this year.

“My whole world fell apart when I lost him,” she said. “Billy lived for snooker – it was his dream and his life. That’s what we want people to remember Billy for.”

She and husband Barry O’Connor, 58, have been consulting with Cemetery Memorials in Motts Lane, Dagenham, to design a headstone shaped like a snooker table – complete with pocket-like plant pots, green marble and balls made of onyx.

Debbie hopes to raise the £4,500 required plus £500 for Teenage Cancer Trust, which she says gave Billy the best care possible before he collapsed at their Ivyhouse Road home in Dagenham. He died at Queen’s Hospital in Romford soon after.

She says Billy, who is buried in Dagenham’s Eastbrookend Cemetery and would have been 19 in three weeks’ time, deserves to be remembered for his fundraising.

She hopes to continue his work with two day-long snooker tournaments at Upton Park Snooker and American Pool Centre later this year.

“We’re hoping the tournaments will keep his memory alive,” she said. “We want to raise money for the trust so we can help another child. I never dreamed my child would get ill and I’m glad they were there for my son – you never know what’s round the corner.”

You can help Billy’s family by donating here