A MUM who lost her young son to cancer has hit her fundraising target to install a memorial bench in commemoration of his short life.

Sam Hamblen, from Bishop’s Waltham, died last year aged three after fighting cancer.

As reported in the Chronicle, his mum Karen hoped to raise £900 for ‘Sam’s Seat’, along with a plaque, for Battery Hill, his favourite spot for looking out for tractors.

Now, thanks to an online surge in support, £1,160 has been donated towards the memorial.

The bench will be installed in time for what would have been Sam’s fourth birthday on April 9.

Sam was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma in August 2015 at 16 months old.

He underwent numerous rounds of chemotherapy, blood and platelet transfusions, scans, treatment for infections, along with a number of operations.

But at the beginning of 2017 he began to deteriorate and in March last year scans showed his tumours had grown and the cancer was back in his bone marrow - giving him weeks to live.

Sam made it to his third birthday on April 9, and died ten days later.

Karen said: “The bench and plaque mean so much more to us because they were made possible due to the care and support of our local community, and we are so grateful, thank you.

“We are hoping to find a local business who can help us by making a tractor or ‘nee nah’ based or shaped memorial plaque.”

Sam’s family and friends have already raised thousands of pounds in his memory with several challenges, with plans for sponsored runs and the London Marathon.

“Sam’s funeral tribute page was for Neuroblastoma UK and raised £2,122. A team of 24 of us - team name ‘Keep Sam Shining’ - completed the Shine half marathon walk for Cancer Research UK in September and raised about £10,000,” said Karen.

“We also had the ‘Let’s Keep Sam Shining’ event and raised £702 for Neuroblastoma UK, £450 for CLIC Sargent and £450 for The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.”

If you can help with making Sam’s memorial contact captainchaos584@gmail.com.