In October 2013 our whole world was turned upside down when we learned that our unborn baby girl was very ill at her 20 week scan. We were given the devastating news that no parent ever wants to hear, "If she makes it to full term she will not take one breath, and may live for only a few moments".

We struggled through a further 15 weeks, holding onto hope and praying for a miracle. At 35 weeks our precious Ella Rose decided it was time to meet us and she was born in the Royal Maternity Hospital in Belfast at 4.56pm on 23rd January 2014. She was absolutely perfect and weighed 6pounds.  The first thing that she did was grab her daddy's little finger.  She cried and she yawned and gave us such pleasure in the short time she spent with us and her big sister Molly.  After 5hours she grew her Angel wings. 

We had such a fabulous support from both the hospital staff and Sands NI. We got to bathe our daughter, make foot and hand prints, cut a curl from her beautiful hair and kiss and cuddle her. We spent two nights with her at the hospital and on the third night we took her home in preparation for a beautiful home service the following day, before saying our final goodbyes. 

The time we spent with her was so utterly precious and without the use of the Cuddle Cot this would not have been possible. These cuddle cots are few and far between and we would love to provide the hospital with a new cot to help other bereaved families to come to terms with their huge loss.  

My amazing husband and four other family members have been kind enough to agree to run as a relay team for the Belfast marathon on May 4th to raise money for a cuddle cot. We would urge anyone to give as much or as little as you can to this cause.  Please spread the word and help us to raise as much money as we can!  If we are lucky enough to raise more money than we need for the cot, then the remaining money will go directly to Sands NI to help them in the wonderful work that they do for all the bereaved families here.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our page and read our story.

Ciara and Justin Marner xxx

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