The mum of a "cheeky, bright and happy" 10-year-old boy has paid tribute to her son as his scout group plan to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest in his memory.
Sam Colin Revitt died on February 5 from a rare, lifelong form of epilepsy, Dravet Syndrome (DS).
Born on October 20, 2011, Sam attended Thomas Wolsey School, in Ipswich, and was a valued member of the 10th Ipswich Scout group.
Penny Revitt, Sam’s mum, said: “He was a very cheeky, bright and happy person.
“You would class him as non-verbal, but he was a very good communicator with his eyes, face and he really was a bit of a charmer.
“When I went to get him from school, I would always get a smile out of him and if he was in class and any of his teachers walked in, or a therapist, he would be the first to let out some vocalisation saying ‘hello, good morning, are you good to talk to me’, and they couldn’t get away from him until they said ‘good morning Sam, how are you?’”
Sam was a big fan of the outdoors and enjoyed heading out into nature with his parents Andrew and Penny, who are members of the RSPB.
During lockdown, Sam developed an enjoyment for baking. He and his family would bake together, and it would be something Sam would be able to share with his class on a Monday morning.
He was also a big fan of the BBC show Pointless.
Penny said: “He would definitely let me know if it was 5.15 on a weekday night and the tv was on a different channel.
“He would give you such a shriek as if to say ‘mummy, can you turn the telly over? Where’s Pointless?’.”
One of the things Sam will be remembered for is his communication skills and the impact he had on the people around him.
“Anything that was people orientated, he enjoyed. He used to really enjoy the music at St Matthew’s Church, Ipswich, and he enjoyed being part of the Sunday School there.
“Anything and everything that involved people, he enjoyed.
“He was just wanting to be a communicator, that was his legacy.
“When we went to hospital, he would love it because he saw it as a social outing, he would see the receptionist and the nurses and doctors and he would want to say hello to all of them.
“He had an impact on the nurses who used to say ‘Sam is in today, who gets to look after him?’”
Before his passing, Helen MacDougall, headteacher at Thomas Wolsey, had awarded him the Inspirational Learner Award.
As part of the Ipswich Scout group, leaders have decided to raise money for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, by having 26 scouts, climb a wall, to the height of Mount Everest.
They will be collectively climbing 8,845 metres at AVID climbing on Ipswich’s Ransomes industrial estate.
Neil Speariett, section assistant at the 10th Ipswich Wednesday Scout group, and freelance instructor at AVID Climbing, said: “We wanted to do something in Sam’s memory.
“He was a popular member of our scouting family and it’s our pleasure and privilege to host such a mountainous event, in aid of such a high-reaching charity.”
Penny said: “I was overwhelmed when I saw on Facebook they were putting on this climb. It was totally off their own back.
“For them to do something for one of their own, I am just blown away that they would want to do that and I think it is a great thing for the scouts as young people to be thinking of others and for their leaders to be encouraging them to care about other people.
“Sam would be saying ‘really? You’re doing this for me?’ Not that he would go up a climbing wall, but he would be at the bottom cheering them on.”
A link to support the climb and EACH is here.
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