THE heartbroken mum of teenager Darren Pyper says she has felt the pain of the loss every single day for the last 10 years.

It is tenth anniversary of Margo Hagen’s son Darren’s death and she says she still struggles to cope with the loss of her beloved boy, who was only 14 when he was stabbed to death.

She remembered Darren in the same way she does every year – by holding a candlelit vigil in the Gourock close where he passed away.

She said: “I’ve felt every day of it. It’s totally ruined my life.

“In some ways it feels like yesterday but in other ways it’s like a lifetime.

“Not a single day goes by when I don’t think about him.”

The 45-year-old has battled depression since losing Darren.
She said: “I’ve not been in good health. I’ve suffered from really bad depression since Darren died.

“On bad days I just go to my bed and just shut out the world.”

She says the fact Darren was so young makes her grief even harder to bear.

Margo, who lives in Gourock, said: “He had his whole life ahead of him. He was just starting out.”

She says one of the most difficult things is seeing Darren’s younger brother Ryan growing up without him.

She said: “He’s the same age now as Darren was when he died. That’s been difficult.

“He’s so like him, he’s very laid back. It’s been hard for him, seeing me upset affects him. He knows there’s someone missing in the family.”

But Ryan, a pupil at Clydeview Academy, is one of Margo’s few sources of happiness and the reason she keeps going.

She said: “I try not to be over-protective, it’s hard, but I do my best.

“Ryan’s quite understanding. He’s a great boy.

“He’s the joy in my life.”

Darren had been visiting his friend in Albert Road, in Gourock, and they had been preparing to watch a football game when he was caught up in a neighbour dispute.

He had been trying to defend his friend’s father when he was stabbed three times. One of the wounds to his leg severed an artery, proving fatal, inset.

Margo and Darren’s dad Brian Pyper, were still in shock at losing their precious son when they were hit with another bitter blow.
The man charged with Darren’s murder, 64-year-old William Brown, died of a heart attack two months later, robbing the family of their day in court and justice for Darren.

She said: “I find that hard. My mum gets comfort from it because the man died.

“But I wanted to see him sentenced and get life. I feel cheated, I feel there’s never been any closure and there never will be.”

Margo, who works part-time at Carpetrite in Greenock, says she would like Darren to be remembered as the happy go-lucky boy that he was and who lived life to the full.

She says she couldn’t have coped without the support of her family, her mum and dad Ann and Jim Hagen and her brother James.

She said: “My mum can read me like a book. She knows when I’m having a bad day.”

Margo met up with her family and Darren’s friends to remember a much-loved son, brother, grandson and friend.

They lit candles in the close then put down single red roses on his memorial bench next to the playpark on Ashton Road.

She said: “Darren loved the scenery. There are great views there that he loved.”

Margo visits her son’s graveside at Gourock Cemetery on birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and New Year.

She said: “I don’t find comfort visiting the cemetery during the year because I think about him all the time.

“I don’t feel I need to go to the cemetery to be close to him.”
But she does take comfort from the support she receives from Darren’s friends.

She said: “He is so sorely missed by all his family and friends.

“All his pals often leave flowers at his grave and that does give me comfort, that he is so well remembered.”

But on milestones like this, she can’t help thinking of what might have been.

Margo said: “He would have been a grown man, with a couple of kids running around his feet. We’ve been cheated out of that.”