On Friday 26th April at 5:55 pm our beautiful baby boy Rowan William McCallion gained his wings and was born sleeping at 24 weeks. Having gone through our entire pregnancy being told that everything was fine and Rowan had a strong heartbeat, we were devastated to be told that Rowan was actually very poorly and had numerous problems. Rowan was diagnosed with a severely unbalanced AVSD and his heart was in fact missing an entire chamber, meaning his little heart wasn’t pumping oxygen around his body like it should do normally. We later found out that Rowan’s stomach was on the wrong side and his bowels were twisted.

In Rowan’s memory we are kindly asking for donations towards the Butterfly Room at The Royal Oldham Hospital. This room is used only by families who have lost their babies, with this space having given us our own opportunity to spend precious time with Rowan. Everything in the room, including special blankets, baby clothing, night lights and other essentials, is funded through charity kindly given by families and friends in memory of their angel babies, something we would love to contribute to in Rowan’s name. The bereavement midwives at the hospital, who support families in this room, were amazing too, and did everything they could to make the most devastating time of our lives that tiny bit more bearable - with a special mention to Chelby and Vicky.

We also want to donate some money to the ‘4 Louis’ charity. This charity provides memory boxes to bereaved families which help people like ourselves to hold onto precious moments forever. Our box included teddy bears for Rowan, a casting set and inkless prints for his hands and feet, a book for us to read to him and a journal that we could write in about our time together.

Both charities have brought us a lot of comfort and through your donations, you can really help us to provide some comfort to future families who will sadly suffer this same unimaginable loss too.

Any help is greatly appreciated no matter how small. Life can be so cruel, but people can be so kind.

Thank you,

Liam, Ellie, and our beautiful boy Rowan💙