THE HEARTBROKEN mother of a murdered engineer has swam thousands of lengths to take on her grief.

Judy Tilbury’s son Matthew was killed at the Sheepcote Valley tip in Brighton in 1996. He was 24-years-old.

The water engineer had tried to intervene to break up a fight, but was struck with a baseball bat and died nine days later from severe brain injuries.

A year later, father-of-two Jamie Cooper, then 20, from Woodingdean, Brighton, was jailed for life for the murder.

She has since spent her life campaigning for life sentences to mean life in prison for murderers.

Then in 2010 her husband of nearly 50 years Roy Tilbury died from a brain tumour.

Her son’s death left Judy in despair, and she would often cry so hard that she would collapse.

She then had a heart attack, and was advised by doctors to take up exercise, so at the age of 70 she finally learned to swim, and has been raising money for Headway in East Sussex.

Mrs Tilbury, from Farnham Avenue in Hassocks, said: “My son Matthew was hit with a baseball bat when he tried to break up a fight. He was talking to his future father-in-law at the tip in Brighton.

One of the group came up and punched the other man, saying he owed them money, which he didn’t.

“He hit Matthew on the top of his head, the force was such that it split his head in half. The severity of the blow was enormous and he died nine days later.

“It was an extremely bad time.

“I had grief counselling and I use to cry so much I would collapse. Five years after he died I had a heart attack, and doctors said it was from my grieving, it was a broken heart.”

Her husband Roy had a brain tumour diagnosed after getting treatment for his cataracts.

The tumour was removed, but a second one developed and his condition deteriorated over several months before his death.

He too was helped by Headway in East Sussex

So grandmother Judy’s decision to learn to swim as a pensioner was all the more surprising given her childhood experience of nearly drowning in Brighton when she was a child.

She was saved by her brother after twice going under the waves, and she had not returned to the water for decades.

But she is now a daily visitor to the Triangle Centre in Burgess Hill, where she completes as many as 60 lengths each day.

To find out more about the charity visit: www.headwayeastsussex.org.uk