News / Trees
Sycamore Gap sapling to be planted in memory of Bristol boy
One of the 49 saplings rescued from the felled Sycamore Gap tree will be planted in south Bristol in memory of Fergus Yard, who died of bone cancer in 2022 aged just 12.
Fergus had planned to walk Hadrian’s Wall with his father before he died. Photo: Yard Family
The National Trust set up the Trees of Hope scheme in which people from all over the UK are given an opportunity to request one of the saplings from the Sycamore tree, which was illegally felled in September 2023.
The saplings from the tree are now around five-foot tall – photo: National Trust
Fergus had planned to walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall but the trip with his dad was postponed when lockdowns were put into place in 2020.
is needed now More than ever
Fergus was then diagnosed with osteosarcoma, and following ten months of treatments and surgeries he sadly died in May 2022.
Two years later, his mother Ruth applied to the National Trust for one of the saplings and was successfully awarded one.
She said: “We wanted to plant a tree for Fergus in our local park, by the tennis courts in a place where he spent hours enjoying life. We wanted something that had meaning but were struggling.
“How do you go about memorialising a 12-year-old boy? But as soon as I heard the story of the seedlings on the radio, I knew. It felt right.”
Ruth Yard has said that planting a tree in Fergus’ memory is “giving us strength” – photo: National Trust
Ruth added: “Life has at times been immensely hard since Fergus died, but nature has been a consistent source of comfort.
“Its power to move and to regenerate is remarkable.
“Today, knowing we will one day have one of the sycamore gap saplings to plant in Fergus’s memory, is giving us strength.
“I want it to be a symbol of hope for all children everywhere whose young lives are affected by this appalling disease, and for it to be a reminder to us all that our children deserve better.”
Main photo: National Trust
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