A MOTHER whose teenage son was killed in Iraq says the loss never gets easier, eight years on.

Karen Lincoln’s 18-year-old son Aaron was shot dead in Basra while on patrol with 2nd Battalion The Rifles on April 2, 2007, at the start of a seven-month tour of duty.

With the eighth anniversary of Rifleman Lincoln’s death approaching, Mrs Lincoln said: “Another year has gone by of heartache.

“We’ve gone through a lot of pain. He’s sadly missed.

“It feels like yesterday in my head. They say it gets better but it doesn’t.”

On the anniversary of her son’s death, Mrs Lincoln, of Sherburn Road Estate, Durham City, plans to visit his grave and have a drink in his memory.