Friends and family said a tearful farewell to 17-year-old Tylor Stevens, who was described as a happy and talented teenager at a memorial service last Thursday.

Tylor, an art student at John Bentley School, Calne, who was born with congenital heart defects, died at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, on June 28 after developing a chest infection.

He touched the lives of many people who met him, including staff and students at John Bentley, who wore his favourite colour orange for the service at the West Wiltshire Crematorium.

Tylor was an avid Doctor Who fan and his parents David and Samantha Stevens, of Newcroft Road, Calne, chose a specially designed Tardis coffin for their son’s cremation.

They picked Hall of Fame, by The Script featuring will.i.am, as the entrance music, and the Doctor Who theme tune as the exit music.

Mr Stevens, who wrote a tribute to his son, remembered introducing him to Doctor Who, by watching old episodes with him and taking him to conventions to meet stars from the television show.

He said Tylor loved the show because at night he could dream he was The Doctor, who could regenerate and come back in a better body.

When Tylor went to Fynamore Primary School Mr Stevens got a job on a building site nearby so he could climb his ladder and see his son waving to him in the playground.

He remembered going fishing with him when he was a young boy, and the time when he bonded with his younger sister, Leah, just after she had been brought home from hospital.

A card from Mrs Stevens, who stayed at home to care for Tylor, was read out at the service.

It said: “I love you exactly as you are. When I gave birth to you the miracle never left my heart and changed me forever. Every second you are with me is a gift no-one can put a price on.”

Tylor, who had secured a place to study art at Chippenham College in September, achieved an A* in GCSE Art.

Emma Bennett taught him art every other Saturday and paid tribute to Tylor, who “loved life” and was a “true artist”. She said he was a “beautiful young man from head to toe, inside and out”.