On the 20th December, I went to work for my shift. However, things quickly changed and Emily was born via a general anaesthetic section at 28 weeks gestation. As you all know, four days later our beautiful girl passed away early hours of Christmas Eve morning. Our hearts were broken, our lives changed for ever. Walking through the hospital with a memory box instead of our baby was just so so heartbreaking.

The support we have received since then has really helped and guided us through the darkest of days.

We cannot thank our consultant enough for acting quickly which gave us those special days with Emily. The neonatal unit in the Royal were fantastic with Emily, and us all as a family. They made sure Emily was cared for and comfortable right until the end. From the moment we found out Emily wouldn’t make it, the support they gave us was amazing. They included Charlie in the memory making also providing Charlie with his own memories with Emily and provided us with our very special memory box from the fantastic Lily Mae Foundation. We cannot thank them enough so we would love to give back to them and to help other families through this traumatic time.

We would love to honour Emily and fundraise in her memory. Knowing Emily is helping other families would mean a lot to us all, we want everyone to know and to never forget Emily McClure

We are going to be fundraising for the Neonatal Unit in the Royal Maternity Hospital Belfast and for other bereavement charities who have helped us over the last couple of months.

We would love to provide other families with their own precious memory box from The Lily Mae Foundation. Our memory box means so much to us. The detail they have put into their boxes are just invaluable.

We have now decided as we have hit our target, we are going to increase it to donate to the listening rooms in Dromore. This service is invaluable providing a safe space for bereaved parents with the support from the fantastic bereavement midwives. With discussions, we are hoping to provide resources to support siblings such as Charlie. Both Oonagh and Shivaun have been a huge support to us as a family.

We will be doing a number of things to fundraise.

Firstly, Emily’s big brother Charlie has decided he would like to climb Slieve Donard to fundraise for Emily. We are so proud of Charlie for deciding to do this.

Steven and I are also going to be running the Lisburn 10k on the 19th June. Anyone who knows me knows I can just about run up the stairs!! So this will definitely be a huge challenge for me. I just want to make my girl proud!

If you wish to donate anything at all in Emily’s memory, we will be forever grateful. It will mean a lot to know our girl is helping other families through this heartbreaking situation and make a painful time a little less.

Thank you

Natalie, Steven and Charlie