Rocks painted in boy's memory found around world

Rocks painted in memory of an eight-year-old boy have been placed around the world.

Billy, from Boston, Lincolnshire, died in December 2024 after catching flu, which triggered a rare genetic disorder.

His family set up Billy's Boulders, a Facebook group with more then 5,000 members, to encourage people to leave rocks in places they visit. They have turned up in locations including Australia, Russia, Jamaica and Brazil.

Mum Jo said: "When a child is alive, you feel like all you want to do is protect them. When your child dies, you just want to protect their memory. The boulders are a really nice way of seeing Billy's name mentioned multiple times a day."

Billy was diagnosed with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTC) as a baby.

The metabolic condition means the liver cannot process waste protein as quickly as in most people.

Despite this, Jo said Billy "lived a very full life" and his condition was "really well controlled" with medicines and a low-protein diet.

However, when Billy started to show flu-like symptoms on 18 December 2024, he quickly became very ill.

Jo said: "We went to hospital as per his emergency plan and within 10 days he just deteriorated so rapidly."

Billy died on 28 December.

"It was the worst day of our lives. I was numb," Jo added.

Whenever they went on holiday, Billy and his siblings loved collecting and painting rocks, which they would bring home to put near a camellia plant in their garden.

About a month after Billy died, it flowered for the first time in 11 years, Jo said.

His family then decided to decorate more rocks in his memory.

"Obviously it's not a common thing that an eight-year-old child dies so suddenly, and I think any memories or memorial things that you do need to be positive and not too morbid," Jo explained.

People who join Billy's Boulders are invited to paint rocks with any design they like, as well as a reference to the social media group, and leave them in public places.

"It just snowballed," Jo said. "Billy would have found it really cool."

Children from Billy's primary school, Boston West Academy, have also taken part and have created a "boulder snake" made up of painted rocks.

Head teacher Ceri Braybrook decribed the response as "magical".

"This keeps Billy alive forever," she said. "It also spreads the word that talking about something that is so awful can also bring so much joy and love to people."

Billy's friend, Louis, nine, said: "It celebrates something Billy liked doing. I draw a lot of memories that I did with him, like playing football."

Fellow pupil Libby, also nine, took one of her rocks to Unst, Britain's most northerly inhabited island.

She added: "It makes me happy because I remember Billy. He was really funny and made everyone smile when they were sad."

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