For parents everywhere, a child's 30th birthday is a milestone event. For mum Maxine Thompson Curl, the anniversary is a painful reminder of a grievous loss.
Her son Kristian Thompson died after an unprovoked one punch attack in the K2 nightclub in Consett in September 2010. Kristian from Burnopfield suffered a severe brain injury after hitting his head and spent seven days in a coma.
While he initially seemed to recover, his condition deteriorated before passing away in July 2011 at the age of 19. Maxine, who now lives in South Shields, has since campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the impact of one punch deaths, and now runs the One Punch UK charity.
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She said: "It's difficult every birthday but as it would have been Kristian's 30th, it makes you reflect more.
"I've seen his friends getting older, getting married, having kids and getting good jobs and careers and there's no reason he wouldn't have done the same. It's hard."
Maxine revealed his friends decided Kristian would probably have gone to Las Vegas for his 30th birthday so they have organised a Las Vegas themed party in his honour, complete with casino.
However she said that while she'll be delivering a cake in the morning for them, she won't be attending the party there. "There's a boxing match on and there's a chance they might watch it. I'll be at home and having a glass of wine."
She said it's difficult for Kristian's brother Liam, now 34. "He lost a younger brother and his mum to a certain extent because I have changed and with all the work with One Punch UK."
The charity has launched initiatives in a bid to highlight the dangers of one punch attacks, which includes putting beer mats in bars across County Durham.
She has also built a relationship with police forces across the North East and joined campaigns encouraging people to stay safe on nights out.
Since setting up the One Punch campaigning group in 2014 she has spoken to around 54,000 people about what happened not just to her son but to other one punch victims too.
"One Punch is staying afloat because of the memory of Kristian and we keep doing the work. There's nothing out there for people who have suffered brain damage. We continue to signpost for them and give advice."
Maxine added: "Kristian was a good lad and because of someone throwing that punch he was taken away from us far too soon. We'll continue to do the charity work to make sure we can try and stop this happening to somebody else.
"I miss him. I always will and we're trying to stop other people suffering such a loss."
