Hi Everyone,

My reason for asking you good people for donations is a very close one to me and my partner and our families.

We were last year the happiest couple on the face of this earth with the birth of our beautiful daughter, Grace Maloney Kelly, she was born at Liverpool Womens hospital on the 2nd August 2011, as i say this was the happiest time of my life.

We took Grace to hospital after one and a half weeks to be checked out for another matter, during this procedure, her bloods were taken and our initial reason for attending hospital that day was found to be absolutely normal,  about a week later we received the results of the bloods and also the darkest news that it is possible to receive, we were made aware that our daughter had the condition SMA type 1, http://www.jtsma.org.uk/sma_type_1.html, our world was shattered with the news that our baby was very likely to pass away within her first year.

As Grace's condition developed, so did the care and support levels needed, feeding tube, suction, nebuliser etc,  we wanted Grace to be at home as much as possible and not in hospital, and as there is no cure for SMA1, her treatment consisted primarily of comfort and care, this care at home put a heavy workload upon my partner Fay, myself and our family,

We were put in touch with Claire House Hospice on the Wirral, as soon as we arrived, the staff were brilliant, they offered respite for the families of the sick children, the kids would receive 24hr care from an excellent team of staff, whilst the siblings and parents can get to some semblance of normality by engaging in family activities (we were always coming back to Grace though), Grace was at Claire House accompanied by my partner Fay and my two stepsons Elliot and Leo four times in all, the last time being the end of November 2011, our beautiful daughter Grace passed away at Claire House on the 30th November.

I always knew bout the outstanding respite and support that Claire House give, what happened next will stay with me for ever..

Upon Grace's passing, the team at Claire House seemed to shift up an extra gear, they gave us the Butterfly suite where Grace rested until the funeral, our families were accomodated and fed during this time, extended family and friends were ushered in by the great staff, they washed our clothes and even ironed them !, the staff helped organise the funeral, even taking me to pick up the death certificate at Birkenhead Town Hall. Nor my family or I will ever forget the levels of care  and support that was afforded to us by the staff at Claire House, they helped us come through the worst possible time, we are truly indebted to Claire House and the fabulous work that they do there, the support continues to this day as they put on regular bereaved siblings parties and outings for the kids, both Fay and myself attend bereaved parents group therapies at Claire House, they are a remarkable place and i hope that no-one who reads this, ever has a reason to find out first hand just how great they are..

November 2012 will be the first anniversary of our Beautiful Grace's passing, i wanted to do something to repay in a small way what we have received from claire House, and continue to do so, also i wanted to shine a light on the fantastic work achieved there.

I am cycling from Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam to Angkor Wat in Cambodia in November 2012 as a way of raising money for this most very worthy charity, also as the timing is very significant to me as it will be a year since the loss of our beautiful daughter..

Please give what you can to this so deserving charity...

Best wishes and kindest regards

Damien Kelly x