A Derry couple raised over £5,000 in memory of their baby daughter to give other grieving parents the gift of more time to say goodbye to their baby.
Melanie and Kieran Coyle lost their baby daughter, Hannah, three years ago when she passed away shortly after birth.
The couple raised a total of £5,250 through a fundraiser and donated a ‘cuddle cot’ to the neo-natal ward with a plaque dedicating it to the memory of little Hannah.
A cuddle cot is a cool cradle that enables the parents and family to have more time with their baby after they pass away by keeping the baby’s body cooler. This enables families to spend precious time together with their baby; bathing them, dressing them, taking photos and just being close with them to say their goodbyes.
Melanie, who with her husband Kieran also have another little daughter, Emma, and baby son, Oisín, described how they raised the funds.
“We had a fundraiser in the Argyle Bar on January 20, which would have been Hannah’s third birthday,” she said.
“We had a whole lot of prizes donated and we raffled them all off and my Mammy made up wee boxes filled with cakes, sweets and jams too. Everyone was just so generous.
“We wanted to get the wee cuddle cot in memory of Hannah but we made a lot more than we needed.
“After buying the cuddle cot for the neo-natal unit, which will always be there because that’s where Hannah was born, we had £3,250 left over so we split it three ways.
“We gave £1,250 to the Lavender Suite in Altnagelvin; we gave £1,000 to Life after Loss, and £1,000 to the support group, Feileacain Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland, who were really helpful to us and all through the inquest.”
Melanie said that, by giving the gift of the cuddle cot in memory of baby Hannah, she and her husband, Kieran, hoped to give other bereaved parents the gift of spending as much time as they can with their baby after they have passed away.
“We would have loved to have had that time with Hannah but we just didn’t have that option,” she said.
“We just wanted to be able to help people who have gone through the same thing as us.”
Pictured above: Melanie and Kieran Coyle present the Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit at Altnagelvin Hospital a cuddle cot in memory of their daughter Hannah Paul Coyle. Hannah was born on 20 January 2015 and the family held a charity night in her memory on her third birthday. The money raised from the event funded the cuddle cot as well as a donation to the Lavender Suite, Life after Loss and Feileacain Support Group, totalling £3,250. Melanie and Kieran made the presentation in NNICU to Sr Jayne Magee; Dr Damian Armstrong; Julie-Ann Coll, Life After Loss and Specialist Midwife Melissa Crockett.
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