Lewis Edward Botting (25 Nov 1999 - 4 Jun 2019)

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Lewis EdwardBritish Heart Foundation

£637.60 + Gift Aid of £146.90
In partnership with

Donate in memory of
Lewis EdwardThe Sick Children's Trust

£1,292.60 + Gift Aid of £280.65
In partnership with

Location
Cambridge Crematorium West Chapel Huntingdon Road Cambridge CB3 0JJ
Date
1st Jul 2019
Time
12pm
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In loving memory of Lewis Edward Botting who sadly passed away on 4th June 2019

Lewis was born on 25th November 1999 in Hinchingbrooke Hospital and lived the first year of his life in Hartford, Huntingdon. In March 2001, Lewis and his family moved to Papworth Everard, Cambridge.

Lewis attended pre-school in Papworth and then Pendragon Primary School where he made many friends and enjoyed his school life. Like so many young boys he enjoyed sport and he joined the local youth football team, Papworth Blasters.

After leaving Pendragon he went to Swavesey Village College to study for his GCSE's. Lewis was always a dedicated student and did well in his chosen subjects. His favourite was History and he had a keen interest in military history and in particular the WWII period. No surprise that he briefly joined the Army Cadets. At Swavesey VC he also found his sporting preference was Rugby and he joined the Swavesey VC Rugby team. As a result of his Rugby interest he also became a member of the youth Rugby team, Huntingdon Stags a local Rugby club which he loved playing for.

During this period of his life Lewis became ill and following a bout of chest infections, Lewis was diagnosed in April 2014 with Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Despite the seriousness of his condition Lewis always remained extremely positive and had a 'get on with it' attitude even then. Lewis spent from April to August 2014 in hospital both at Evelina Children's Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London. In May 2014, as a bridge to having his heart transplant, Lewis became the very first patient at GOSH to have a portable ventricular assist device (VAD) attached to his poorly heart which enabled him to live as normal life as possible whilst waiting for a donor heart to become available. This was a huge achievement for the team at GOSH and because Lewis' pioneering treatment went so well, several other VAD operations have been carried out for other children in the same situation. The plan was for Lewis to return home on his VAD, however this was not to be as literally the day he was due to come home a donor heart became available and he underwent his heart transplant on 10th August 2014. Lewis and his family will be forever grateful to the donor and their family for the gift of life. Remarkably, Lewis came home just 13 days later thanks to the dedicated team at GOSH as well as Lewis' own determination to get back to normal.

Lewis worked extremely hard to catch up with his GCSE school work. It was a great moment when Lewis was able to re-join his school friends at Swavesey VC in the autumn of 2014. Lewis was delighted when he passed all of his GCSE exams, much to the pride of his family.

Lewis' love of the outdoors led him to study Agriculture at the College of West Anglia as well as volunteering at Wimpole Home Farm most weekends, something he really enjoyed and reinforced his ambition to work in the farming industry. Whilst studying at college Lewis also made time to pass his driving test and he also met and started going out with his first girlfriend.

Following his graduation from college, having passed all his examinations, Lewis started work at a local farm for the harvest season. This is where his love of farming blossomed and although hard work and long hours he really thrived. After harvest he worked briefly on another farm potato picking. Lewis' most recent job was working with the landscape team at the American Cemetery in Cambridge. The common theme throughout Lewis' work life was his happiness with doing things he really liked and being able to be outdoors in his work.

Lewis lead a very normal life which he craved for, never revealing his medical history to anyone, preferring to just live his life the way he wanted and never wanting to be the centre of attention. As with lots of young lads his age he loved his Xbox and PlayStation as well as watching films and he also had a love a old British comedies, one of his favourites being Dad's Army!

Life for Lewis was ticking along nicely, his post-transplant clinic appointments were normal, with no particular concerns and Lewis was enjoying his work. In February 2019, at a routine hospital appointment, the consultants at Papworth Hospital noticed a significant change to Lewis' donor heart and he was admitted for further tests and treatment for rejection. Tests revealed no sign of rejection. However things were not as they should be and following a few bouts in hospital, Lewis was readmitted on 30th May 2019 and sadly passed away in the early hours of 4th June 2019.

Lewis' bravery and positive attitude throughout this worrying time is an inspiration to his family and in many ways took the seriousness of his condition away. His willingness to get back to normal was typical Lewis and this was one of his particular strengths.

Lewis is a much loved son, grandson, brother, nephew and cousin who will be missed enormously and has left a huge void in the lives of his family and friends.

As a family we would like to pay tribute to our very special young man. All are welcome to celebrate his life with us, funeral details are displayed on this page (Dress-code optional). We are asking for family flowers only, however if you wish to pay tribute to Lewis please donate to the Sick Children's Trust, which is a charity that supports housing families close to children's hospitals so that you can be close to your child providing a 'Home from Home'. Whilst Lewis was in hospital we spent 5 months at their accommodation called Rainbow House. We have also chosen the British Heart Foundation, both of which are displayed on this page. Donations can also be made at the funeral.

Lewis' family would like to invite you to join us for the funeral reception that will be held at:
The George and Dragon
41 Boxworth Road
Elsworth
Cambridge
CB23 4JQ

Please use the Attendance tab on this page to let us know if you are able to attend the funeral and the funeral reception.

Carrie S donated £30 in memory of Lewis
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Donna Botting donated £222.60 in memory of Lewis
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Donna Botting donated £222.60 in memory of Lewis
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Donna Botting wrote

Donations made at Lewis’ funeral

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Kane Phillips donated £10 in memory of Lewis

Lewis was such a nice bloke, growing up with him was always a laugh when we were little. Loved playing bowls with him a couple seasons ago and never had a bad word to say about anyone. Simply a legend. He will be truly missed. - Kane

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Rachael Evans donated £20 in memory of Lewis

If it wasn’t for places like these, families would be stuck in times of need.
Keeping Lewis in our hearts, Sending lots of love always xxxx

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Lisa Noble donated £10 in memory of Lewis

In memory of Lewis Botting and deepest sympathies to his loving family xx

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Velda & Keith Dalton donated £25 in memory of Lewis

A truly inspirational young man who was clearly loved by so many and will be sadly missed by so many more! Our love & thoughts are with you all xx

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Emma Umney donated £20 in memory of Lewis

Thinking of you all. Xx

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Debra Garland donated £30 in memory of Lewis
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Debra Garland donated £30 in memory of Lewis
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Heather Lake donated £20 in memory of Lewis
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Heather Lake wrote

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

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Heather Lake wrote

Thinking of you all at this very sad time. Our thoughts are with you
Heather and Chelsia Lake

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Heather Lake is attending the funeral
Denise Davis donated in memory of Lewis

Thinking of you all at this sad time.

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Lee, Lynda, Will, James & Ella Wilson donated £100 in memory of Lewis

“How lucky are we to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”, Lewis came into our family and we all found something in common with him that he loved and was passionate about, the outdoor life, farming, history & old comedies! Our lives are the richer and brighter for knowing this amazing young man and the world is a poorer and duller place with our him.
Our love goes to Donna, Tim Lucy, Frazer, their family and all of the people who knew Lewis.

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Supun Wijesinghe donated £30 in memory of Lewis
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Vicki Dowsett is attending the funeral
Brian Gilbert donated in memory of Lewis

We are thinking of you all at this difficult time.

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Ian Critten donated £30 in memory of Lewis

You touched so many hearts with your bravery and cheerful outlook.

You will be missed but never forgotten x


Ian, Meredith, Jonah, Zac and Dexter

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Jasmine Rojas donated £15 in memory of Lewis
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Jasmine Rojas donated £20 in memory of Lewis
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DEBBIE GOFFIN donated £20 in memory of Lewis

My heartfelt sympathies for the loss of Lewis, its a struggle to find the words to express just how very sad this is. I hope on Monday with your friends and family you are able to support each other and celebrate Lewis's life. My thoughts are with you x

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DEBBIE GOFFIN wrote

My heartfelt sympathies for the loss of Lewis, its hard to find the words to express just how much of a loss losing a child must be. I hope on Monday with all of your family and friends you are able to celebrate Lewis's life.

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veronica searle donated in memory of Lewis
Cathy Ball donated in memory of Lewis

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all at this time.

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Rob & Terri Mercer & Goodyear is attending the funeral
Chelsea Roberts donated £20 in memory of Lewis

In loving memory of Lewis 💙

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Chelsea Roberts wrote

In loving memory of Lewis 💙

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