BBC The Repair Shop expert says heartbreaking restoration is 'not going to be easy'

The latest episode of BBC's The Repair Shop was a tear-jerker, as newcomer Rob Fraser was tasked with restoring an item of great sentimental value.

On Tuesday's (August 26) show, which recently saw one expert worried about their fix, heritage stonemason Rob Fraser met with a couple, John and Margaret Ivin, who brought in a fragment of plaster from their kitchen wall for restoration.

The broken pieces of plaster had writing on them, prompting BBC favourite Dominic China to inquire about its significance. Margaret revealed that during a kitchen renovation last summer, their builder discovered the message hidden behind one of the original cupboards.

She said: "Where they'd taken one of the original cupboards off the wall, this was behind it and it was a complete shock to see it there."

The message was written by their late son Christopher when he was around 14 years old.

It read: "This is original wallpaper. Friday 4:15 8th December 1989. Please leave this wallpaper, Chris."

Margaret, visibly moved, shared that Christopher often left messages for them. She then revealed the heartbreaking news that their son had tragically died from a rare form of testicular cancer when he was almost 35.

She said: "It was 18 months from diagnosis to when he died. When you lose a child, you never get over it, you get through it and we've just got through it."

Revealing that witnessing their son's handwriting once more on the plasterwork proved deeply moving, it became clear that Rob faced a tremendously significant challenge ahead, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Examining the damaged plaster more closely, he explained: "There's so much going on, the paper is really fragmented, so that's very risky. I'll have to take my time, I might need some help. It's not going to be easy.

"I need to get eyes on all these pieces and work out what condition each individual piece is in. I'm really nervous about handling this. This is gypsum plaster, which is very brittle."

Eventually, Rob successfully managed to repair the plasterwork and the moment arrived to present John and Margaret with the final outcome as the specialist enlisted the assistance of two additional experts from the workshop.

Upon the grand reveal, they were utterly astounded as Margaret exclaimed: "That's amazing."

Both were reduced to tears as John could be seen dabbing his eyes.

She continued: "What can I say? What can I say? It's funny handwriting, he would be chuffed to bits to see that. I mean, he was what, 14? and he would've been 48 this year."

John remarked: "He was a lovely boy, yeah."

Both expressed their gratitude to the specialists for repairing the damaged plaster as they emphasised how extraordinary it was.

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.