RIP Beautiful Little Ruby

My gorgeous friend Krystal & her husband Steven had to say their final goodbyes to their beautiful little (almost 2yr old) girl Ruby on 24/07/22.

Ruby tested positive for Covid 14/07/22, which triggered a neurological disease Acute Hemorrhagic Leukoencephalitis (AHLE), a very aggressive disease that causes an intense attack of inflammation in the brain & spinal cord that damages the myelin (the protective coating of the nerve fibers). It sadly ended little Ruby's life prematurely.

What makes this incredibly tough time even more challenging is that Krystal & Steven are expecting the arrival of their son on 29/07/22. What a mix of emotions for anyone to try to deal with.

Ruby was only in this world for a short time. However, she made the most of every second.. such a loving, caring little girl, always smiling. She touched the hearts of everyone she met & will be sadly missed by everyone who met her..

I know there are no words to comfort Ruby's mum & dad right now as they try their best to navigate through this incredibly tough time so I was hoping to try & help them financially.

Any donations, no matter how large or small, would be greatly appreciated; if you aren't in a position to donate, could you please share this with your family & friends.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

All donations are to assist the family through this difficult time of having to say goodbye to Ruby while their second child enters the world.

**Below is a post from Ruby's dad Facebook page.

This post contains sad news, please prepare yourself.

Dear friends and family, it is with great sadness that we announce our beautiful baby girl, Ruby Grace Edwards grew her angel wings and passed peacefully yesterday, 24/07/2022 at 4:21pm just two weeks before her 2nd birthday, surrounded by her family.

She became suddenly unwell, eventually testing positive for COVID. This triggered a rare auto-immune condition, where her immune system, while trying to fight the virus, also attacked her brain, affecting her vital functions. She fought long and hard but unfortunately, the condition was too aggressive, ruthless and relentless. Thanks to her treatment, we don’t believe she suffered any pain during her fight and was able to leave this world peacefully. The hard working medical team of experts at both Logan Hospital and QLD Children’s Hospital, did their very best and we are eternally grateful and thankful for their effort and care.

It feels like the world is falling apart for us right now, as we prepare for the arrival of our son this Friday, 29/07/2022. This is supposed to be such a happy time where our family would become complete but is now so broken.

We, all of us, need to love and support each other through this unimaginably tough time. We are all hurting, we are all in pain, please be kind and be there for each other and cherish Ruby’s memory and the joy she brought to all of our lives. If you have children of your own, please hug them a little bit tighter tonight. I am not sure how but we need to navigate this grief as best we can. It will come to us in different ways, at different times and at different intensities. Sometimes we will need to be with loved ones, sometimes we will need space. Please be patient, we are all trying our best.

All Krystal and I know right now is that we need to be strong as we embrace our arriving son. He will need us and we will need him. However, we need to accept that it is OK to not be strong at times and reach out for help, something I am not normally accustomed to doing. We will need to lean on each other sometimes, sometimes we will push you away, please don’t feel offended or hurt. Be there for each other, when needed.

I am currently dealing with COVID and sleep deprivation, and feel like there is so much more I want to say but my mind is racing everywhere between deep sadness, anger, disbelief, denial, guilt, shame, regret, etc. I only have to hope there is another side, where this means something, where there is hope, where there is happiness and peace. I want to get there so desperately, I want to shield our son from this, I want him to only know of love and joy.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support but we will ask for more of it going forward. That is all for now, we will give further details later. We give our permission to share this post and news, if you wish.