Our gorgeous baby boy Fintan gave us so much joy, love and happiness in the 11 short days we had with him. When Fintan was born, all of our lives changed forever. It was a huge shock when instead of cuddling Fintan after he was born, he was whisked off to neo-natal intensive care. We did not know what lay ahead for Fintan but believed that he would be ok. Sadly, Fintan died after a rollercoaster 11 days after developing a deadly inflammation in his bowel- Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC). It was later learned that Fintan had an undiagnosed genetic syndrome which meant his immune system was compromised and therefore couldn’t defend his body well enough.

Unfortunately Fintan's mummy, daddy and grandparents were the only people allowed to meet Fintan, so we wanted to do something that was positive and reflected the love the whole family and our friends felt for him. As a family we feel that a Tribute Fund is a lovely way to keep his memory alive, and help to fund research into Necrotising Enterocolitis and other illnesses. On Fintan's birthday or anniversary, we hope our family and friends will make donations to the fund. We would also like to hold an annual fundraiser in Fintan's memory to raise further money for the Tribute Fund. We feel that the Tribute Fund means his memory will continue to light up the lives of many people in the future, especially all the babies and children who are affected by sickness and illnesses around the UK.

Fintan's mum and dad began fundraising in 2016 for Action Medical Research, starting with a coffee morning at Fintan's Nana and Papa's house.

In 2017, Fintan's friends and family took part in a zipline across the river Lagan challenge event. Thanks to the following people who took part;

Annie and Paul Heading, John, JP, Catherine and Patricia McGinnis, Danielle Hanna, Desmond and Brendan Heading, George Duffy, Nuala Rush, Gerard Gaskin, Mark Watkins, Jayne Quigley, Bernadette Hassan, Sarah and Keith Patterson, Ben McCleave, Dave Cole, Seamus McGarvey, Leslie Altic, Jillian Murray, Nicola Bryce-Ward, Saul O’Reilly and Ross McMullan.

On 18th April 2018, the eve of Fintan's 3rd birthday, his aunts, Catherine, Caitlin and Patricia organised a pub quiz at the Errigal Pub on the Ormeau Road to raise further money in memory of Baby Fintan. This was a great night.

Last year Seamus, one of Fintan's mum's colleagues, ran the Belfast Marathon on 5th May 2019. Seamus prepared well and successfully ran the 26 mile route around Belfast raising over £3000 for Action Medical Research in Fintan’s memory. Well done Seamus!!!!