'Our son died suddenly after collapsing at a bus stop, but we're so pleased he hasn't been forgotten'
The parents of a Sheffield teenager who tragically died after collapsing at a city centre bus stop have described the heartbreak of losing a son so suddenly and how proud they are of fundraising carried out in his memory.
18-year-old Hugo Mason sadly died in 2024 after collapsing during his journey home from school.
“He asked me to put a sausage roll in the oven half an hour before he died,” Hugo’s mum Diane Mason said.
“He left school at lunchtime and he got a bus into town and he was going to get the next bus home. He was texting me to tell me which bus he was getting.”
Hugo collapsed at a city centre bus stop as he awaited his final bus home - his parents said he was healthy and well.
Diane told The Star: “He’d asked me to pick him up from the bus stop [near home] and he didn’t appear and he wasn’t answering his phone.”
Soon, emergency services called Hugo’s parents, asking them to head to the Northern General Hospital, where Hugo passed away.
“It was simply a shock,” Diane said. “I can’t believe it happened. It was a normal day.”
It was a devastating loss for the family.
Dad Daniel Mason said: “One of the things you become concious of is how many other people lose their children.”
“It was just shock and disbelief,” Diane continued. “An empty space. He had a little chair in the lounge and it’s empty. It’s hard to look at it every day.”
For Hugo’s mum, dad and his younger brother, there is comfort in knowing the memory of the young Formula One and Arsenal fan is continuing through his school and friends.
Daniel said: “His great passion was software development. He’s got an app called WatchTube which allows you to watch YouTube videos on your Apple Watch. We’ve kept it going.
“A few days after he died he would have had an interview with Lockheed Martin.
“He had a great online community. Within a week of him dying, a man named Carlos in Panama had crowdfunded for him to have a plaque at the Arsenal.”
Since his passing, students and staff at UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park - where Hugo studied IT courses - have raised hundreds of pounds for the Children’s Hospital Charity, where Hugo made a number of visits during his childhood.
Diane said: “Hugo made great friends with his teachers and the children wanting to do fundraising, it means so much to know people haven’t forgotten him.
“We had a private funeral and we had a memorial service on the same day. A lot of teachers and kids came from the UTC which was lovely.”
Daniel added: “We hadn’t appreciated until he did, just how loved he was by others or all the things he’d got himself into.”
Hugo’s WatchTube app has had thousands of downloads and the youngster even spent £300 to copyright the logo - something mum and dad discovered after he’d died.
Both Daniel and Diane said Hugo loved to travel, disliked Max Verstappen and was full of personality.
“He went on a day trip on his own to Brussels when he was 16,” Diane shared. “His proudest moment was when he got detained by Border Force in Brussels.
“He said he’d watched enough border programmes to know what to say.
“He had a lot of personality and spirit. He would have had a lot to say about Donald Trump this week and we miss that.”
On January 28, 2025, students from the UTC presented a cheque worth more than £830 to the Children’s Hospital Charity.
Charlotte Wilson, Community Fundraising Manager at The Children's Hospital Charity, said: "We are so grateful to everyone at UTC Olympic Legacy Park for their dedicated fundraising.
“It's a wonderful tribute to Hugo, who we know had received care at Sheffield Children's for much of his life. The money they've raised will help to provide the best possible care for other children and young people like him."