Georgina Campbell talks to Sara Ryan about a book she has written about her son Connor Sparrowhawk and the battles she has faced following his death four years ago.

A ROLLERCOASTER of emotions awaits readers of a new book penned by a mother who has battled for answers following the death of her son.

Dr Sara Ryan gives her 'frank' account of the experiences her family have been through after they learnt of her son's Connor Sparrowhawk's death when he was in a Headington NHS unit run by Southern Health.

Connor - who had autism, epilepsy and a learning difficulty – was found submerged in a bath at Slade House at 9am on July 4, 2013. He died at the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford.

But her book Justice for Laughing Boy is not just a focus on the battle the family is still fighting in holding health authorities to account.

Interwoven between accounts of the past four years, Dr Ryan intersperses the narrative with personal stories of her son.

She said: "This book is about Connor, I wanted people to know who he was as a person, not just the situation that happened.

"There some brilliant stories in there of funny things that happened while he was growing up."

A favourite anecdote of Dr Ryan's was during a holiday in Yorkshire visiting the caves.

She added: "They turned the lights off so you could see all the stalagmites and stalactites and suddenly he just started praying to the Rowan Atkinson character Johnny English to come and save us.

"He was really worried and at the time we had to leg it out of there because all these other children were crying.

"But looking back on it, it was hysterical. He loved Mr Bean which is why I guess he was praying to him to come and save us."

Written over six months, each chapter ends with Dr Ryan having a conversation with Connor.

She said: "I wanted to let people know what Connor would have thought about everything.

"What he would have thought about the inquest, the police involvement - he would have been fascinated.

"He would have been thrilled about the book and probably would have thought 'too right, of course there should be a book about me.'"

But Dr Ryan does not want the book to only appear on the shelves of health and social care workers.

She said: "This is a book for anyone, not just people that are part of the health service.

"A part of me also hopes that if another family is in a similar situation to us and they are trying to get answers, then perhaps our experience can point them in the right direction of who to ask and where to go.

"When all this happened to us, we had no idea that the NHS would not investigate Connor's death properly.

"We only received a message from a lawyer who had seen our story and they gave us advice to pursue and investigate what actually happened to Connor."

Justice for Laughing Boy is available in book stores and online at Amazon.

For more information or a copy visit: amazon.co.uk/Tale-Laughing-Boy-Finding-Sparrowhawk-x/dp/178592348X