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Each of our Mum’s has written a piece about their child in our stories section. We have each lost a child at a range of ages to a range of different causes. Our stories are as unique as the child we have lost. We are connected now by a bond of understanding; the agony of enduring the death of a child. Understanding that the love for our child never dies. We grieve them because we love them.

Melissa’s story

Melissa was born on 15th February 1994 – my second daughter.

Growing up, I knew I had her! I spent many hours in hospital with her, after she broke her arm three times and her leg once! She grew into a happy and loving young woman with lots of friends. Paige was her best friend; they had known each other from the age of one and went through play group, primary school and secondary school together; they never lost touch. She loved her older sister Steph, they got on so well, and unlike sisters they hardly argued and were best friends.

Mel started to feel unwell, with a cough and a cold, on 2nd January 2014.

A few days later she was rushed to hospital by ambulance in the middle of the night, with what we thought was a bad chest infection. A week later, she died in Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, from Influenza A an acute respiratory distress syndrome, which had led to multiple organ failure. She was 19.

I remember one Mum – who had lost a son herself – saying to me in the days afterwards, “It should never happen”. I will never forget those words.
Losing a child is something a parent never recovers from, but you learn to live with it. You find a “new normal”.
I feel blessed that I had Mel in my life for nearly 20 years. She was truly beautiful inside and out.

Emily’s Story

Our beautiful 12-year-old daughter, Emily, died on 4 March 2011 at Gt Ormond Street Hospital following the late diagnosis of a serious and rare lung condition called Pulmonary Hypertension. She lived for 38 days after the diagnosis and was too sick to receive a transplant.

Emily was our middle child; she leaves an Emily shaped hole in our family that cannot be filled.

I miss her presence in all things; her sense of humour, her kindness, her attitude to life.

I miss the little things like drinking her cups of tea (the colour of ginger nut biscuits) while ironing her uniform as she told me stories of her and her friends adventures.

Emily had a strong moral compass and talked about joining the police or the army when she left school.

Pulmonary Hypertension is a cruel disease it has many symptoms that can easily be attributed to less serious conditions. Emily had no warning that she had the disease and we knew nothing of it. In many ways I am grateful that her time in hospital was short.

We support PHAUK http://www.phauk.org/ and Gt Ormond Street Children’s Charity in her memory https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Forever-Awesome-Emily

James’s story

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