A son whose mum was a victim of morgue monster David Fuller says he's channelling his rage into fundraising in her memory.
Fuller sexually abused at least 100 women and girls over the span of 12 years at two Kent morgues.
The 67-year-old necrophile was jailed for life for his horrific crimes in December and will die in prison.
His unspeakable crimes have also changed the lives of his victim's families, with one grieving relative even being driven to take her own life, a whistleblower told The Mirror in February.
The son of Tania Mackelden, who became one of Fuller's victims after she died of breast cancer in 2017, felt like he "lost" his mum "all over again in the most sickening way", the BBC reports.
Tom Mackelden said: "You lose them once and then you feel like you lose them all over again."
He said: " David Fuller temporarily destroyed my memories of my mum, however, now I'm using that negative energy as motivation to help as many families out there as possible."
The 24-year-old was just 19 when his 48-year-old mum died.
"When she went, it was a huge empty space in my heart and that space has never been filled again," he said.
At the time of his mum's death, Tom was taking part in a host of charity events, including football matches, golf days and even running the London Marathon - twice.
But when he found out about the horrors Fuller committed at Pembury Hospital mortuary, he felt like he'd lost his mum again - but this time in the "most sickening way possible".
He said: "You lose them once and then you feel like you lose them all over again, in the most sickening way possible.
"But it has given me motivation to do something bigger and better than anything I have done before by starting a foundation in memory of my mum."
Tom will unveil the Tania Mackelden Foundation in memory of his mum at a glitzy ball in Kent in April - with all proceeds paying for holidays for cancer patients.
Just last month, a whistleblower revealed a family member of one of the 100-plus dead women and girls he abused had taken their own life.
Insiders have also told how bosses were urged to install CCTV in the mortuary a year before Fuller was caught – but the request was refused due to costs.
And some of the sexual assaults were committed before a postmortem – meaning signs were missed by pathologists.
Ministers have launched an independent inquiry led by former health chief Sir Jonathan Michael. But relatives of the victims have started legal proceedings to force a full-scale public inquiry.
Ben Davey, who represents dozens of them, said: “It is a national scandal Fuller was able to commit these offences over such a long period of time.
“Offences of such magnitude warrant a full and unflinching inquiry – which this inquiry is not.
“We need to fully examine the facts without being concerned about saving embarrassment to those that failed to put in place the proper checks on Fuller.” The monster got away with abusing corpses for 12 years and Mr Davey pointed out that he might never have been caught if he had not been nailed for two unsolved sex murders.
Fuller strangled and sexually assaulted Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987 – the so-called Bedsit Murders.
After a DNA breakthrough in 2020, cops raided his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, and found hard drives with more than 14 million images of distressing sexual offences.
They included pictures of him abusing corpses in hospitals where he was an electrician.
These included a nine-year-old girl, two 16-year-olds and a woman aged 100.
The married dad of four worked at Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, from 1989 then moved to Tunbridge Wells Hospital in 2010.
The Department of Health said: “We are taking action to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
“We believe this non-statutory inquiry will help us understand as quickly as possible how these offences took place without detection, identify any areas where early action is necessary, and consider wider issues.”
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: “The trust continues to support the families affected by Fuller’s appalling crimes and cooperate fully with the independent inquiry.”
