Couple who tragically lost their baby girl raise thousands of pounds to help bereaved families

One Grimsby couple who had a heartbreaking tragedy have raised thousands of pounds for their local hospital charity.

Gavin and Joanne Mason’s baby girl, Emily, was sadly born sleeping in March 2018 just three days before her due date.

They were looked after on the Blueberry Ward at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital where the team made their three day stay as comfortable as possible in the specialist bereavement room.

Gavin and Joanne bravely channeled their heartache into wanting to help other families who had been through a similar tragedy to them and decided to fundraise for The Health Tree Foundation (HTF) the official charity for the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

Gavin said: “Among the sadness and tears, we were truly touched by the kindness, empathetic and warm hearted approach the whole medical team on Blueberry Ward showed us. Both throughout our time on the ward and the aftercare we are still receiving.

“Whilst still in the hospital, I suggested we do some fundraising. We knew at this point Emily’s heart had stopped and so it was a way for us to channel any negative energy into doing something positive and to give us something to focus on.”

Gavin, who is a keen sportsman, decided that taking on the 3 Peaks Challenge would be a great task to help him through the healing process of losing Emily and it would also be something he could do with his family and friends.

Gavin said: “We felt it was important to attach as many positive thoughts and feelings to Emily’s short life as possible so we wouldn’t always look back on sadness.

“We wanted Emily to look down on us and be proud and for her to know that her existence will make such a difference to so many people in the future through the fundraising we carried out.”

Accompanied by his two brothers, Ben and Dan and his close friend Woody, Gavin completed the 3 Peaks Challenge and raised an incredible £4696.00 for HTF.

They requested their incredible donations go towards the maternity bereavement room and maternity bereavement services at Grimsby Hospital to help families who experience the same tragedy.

Gavin added: “It is a wonderful feeling knowing how much has been raised. Many donations have come from people who we have never met before so to have support from so many people is incredible.

“It isn’t until something like baby loss is spoken about that you realise how many people have experienced it. You feel as though you are on your own but actually, there are so many people who have been affected by it and that is why fundraising was so important to us.

“Thank you to everyone who donated to this very deserving charity and thank you to those who came to Yorkshire to support us on the weekend of our challenge. We hope to continue with other fundraising events in the future.”

Joanne said: “Losing my daughter has absolutely broken my heart; however my husband has been a tower of strength to me. He is such an inspiration – going through the unimaginable but still thinking of a way to help others makes me feel so proud of him.”