Award-winning Scottish filmmaker Lesley Paterson has turned the ashes of her deceased husband into a diamond as a sincere memory of him.
Paterson, who won a BAFTA and Oscar was nominated for her adapted scenario for 2022 film All Quiet on the Western Front, was robbed when Simon, her husband of 22 years, died on June 1 last year.
The 51-year-old professor of practice science at San Diego State University in California had fought in phase 4 pancreatic cancer.
Now, in a permanent tribute to him, she has used 'Ashes-to-Diamonds Company' Eterneva to create the monument.
In a video clip, placed online, an employee of the facility of the company in Kerrville, Texas can be seen that operates the machines needed for the process.
Paterson then starts the recording before pressing buttons on a control screen for the machines to start the process.
Written in a message to guide the video, Paterson said: 'Really special visit to the @eetereva facility today to see how they turn lives into an inheritance by making diamonds of ashes. Si's Diamant is something that I will cherish forever. '
In a message of thanks to the company's staff, Paterson said: “You are doing something incredibly special.”
Lesley Paterson has turned the ashes of her deceased husband Simon into a diamond
Mrs. Paterson posted a video online with her with the start of the process
She said the last diamond will be something that she will cherish for the rest of her life
Carbon is extracted from cremated remains and converted into diamonds
The Paterson born in Stirling, who is also a world champion athlete, met Mr. Marshall, who studied sports psychology at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, when she was 21.
The couple worked together to prepare her for athletic competitions and he helped to develop her mindset skills that she said she felt her invincible.
With the prize money of international triathlone events, the couple took some time to write together what would turn out to be a blockbuster film that takes place during the First World War.
Based on the novel im Westen Nichts from 1929 by author Erich Maria Remarque, born in Germany, it took 16 years before the film went from page to screen.
It was praised by critics and received 14 Bafta nominations and nine Oscar nominations after the release in 2022.
But the celebration of their success was brutally cut when Mr. Marshall was diagnosed with cancer.
In addition to a sports scientist, he directed a number of films and had worked with his wife on bringing Viktor Frankl's book Man's search for meaning – based on his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp – for the big screen.
Paterson won a BAFTA prize for the best custom scenario for All Quiet on the Westfront
The couple had sworn to combat the disease together and in January 2024 an appeal to a special treatment that yielded nearly £ 100,000. But Paterson, 44, went to social media last summer to confirm that her husband had died in the US.
She had written: 'My dear dear boy died yesterday on June 1.
“He was my soul and my light. The pain is real, but I will take this suffering and make it beauty in honor of his mind. Love all of you. '
