Grieving couple help others say goodbye to babies

A grieving couple has raised £17,000 for special cots which allow families to have more time to say goodbye to their babies.

Chelsea Turrell, from Kendal, Cumbria, said her life "came crashing down" when her baby boy Romeo was full-term stillborn on 21 April this year.

Miss Turrell said someone had donated a so-called cold cot to Furness General Hospital, which meant her family could spend 10 days together, adding it was "time we will forever cherish".

The 30-year-old and her fiance Christian Horn said the fundraising had been "our life and soul".

Miss Turrell said: "The fundraising has been a huge part of what has kept us going through what has been an awful few months."

During her pregnancy, "everything was completely fine, completely normal," Miss Turrell told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"We turned up to Furness Hospital General Hospital in the late stages of labour to be told 'I'm sorry, your baby has no heartbeat'," she said.

"Romeo was born at a perfect 8lbs 7oz (3.2kg) just two days before his due date, with no cause of death.

"Everything you had dreamed for the past nine months and imagined for the rest of your life comes crashing down in that instant."

Ms Turrell and her family then learned that a cold cot - a refrigerated unit - had been donated to the hospital.

"Without one, Romeo would have had to go into the hospital mortuary within a couple of hours...instead we had 10 days together as a family," she continued.

Miss Turrell said it also helped her children, giving them a "chance to process and create memories with Romeo".

"Having that time was so precious - until you experience baby loss first-hand you cannot comprehend how important that time is," she said.

"The people that need these cold cots won't even know they exist."

Since July, Miss Turrell and her family have been hosting raffles and events, including a Northern Soul night, and selling donated pre-loved baby and toddler items.

More than £17,000 has been raised for UK charity Abigail's Footsteps, which sources the special cots and offers support to those dealing with baby loss.

"We've raised enough money to donate five cots to North West-based hospitals and Co-operative Funeral Care," she said.

"I just want people to have that time that they deserve and they require with their babies to really grieve."

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