Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

For those that aren't aware, the Donna Louise Trust recently merged with DougieMac 🌻

I always donated to the Dougie Mac and Donna Louise Trust, mainly because they are local charities, but until recently I never really know what they did. If you are reading this and are thinking the same, you are very lucky. For the less fortunate families, I hope that you'll somewhat understand my campaign and support me in raising funds. 

Our story: 

At age 30 and 32 we had been waiting a long time to find the right person and settle down to start a family. After a pretty straight forward pregnancy and birth, Clive and I welcomed our first born child on July 26th 2021. We were so sure that we were having a boy but elated to discover we had in fact got a little princess, whom we named Kiara Ellise Read 👣♀️

For the first 24 hours everything was pretty normal. Except for the fact that Kiki hadn't opened her eyes and she wouldn't yet feed,  we were both enjoying our first moments as parents. 

After that things escalated quickly; Kiara was moved from the Post Natal Ward to the Transitional Care Unit and then onto the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She was put in an incubator, wired up to lots of machines, had a feeding tube and later they even took over her breathing. She was having regular fits, sometimes up to 20 minutes each, and as touching her was one of the triggers that would set these off, we had to be careful how much we interacted with her. 

They ran lots of tests but then it was a case of waiting for results to come back. After little news after a week, we found on Tuesday the 3rd of August (her due date) that Kiara had been diagnosed with a rare and terminal genetic disorder, called Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH)

I'm not sure it's possible to explain how our world came crashing down at that moment. It was an emotional car crash. Our little girl was going to die and very soon. 💔

Had it not been for the generosity of The Donna Louise Trust, Kiara wouldn't have had a life outside of hospital. After miraculously surviving the night independently off all machines, our family were given the opportunity to spend what little time we had left at the hospice. 

She loved her car ride, she got to feel the sun on her face, smell the flowers in the lovely garden and have some well deserved cuddles in peace. The staff kept an eye on us all the whole time and nothing was too much bother. 

Kiara fought for as long as she possibly could, surpassing all expectations and made it to the very early hours of the 5th of August 

She went peacefully on the chest and in the arms of her Daddy, whilst Mummy lay next to them and held her hand.

We all went to sleep at approximately midnight but only we woke up, come 1.15am 👼 

Couldn't be more proud of our little girl. She lived for 10 days, making it to double digits. She gave us a wonderful 30 hours to say goodbye and make some wonderful memories.

The support didn't end there. The staff continued to look after us all, keeping Kiara on site for a week, almost until the date of her funeral. We were allow to come and go as we wished and had our own room to stay overnight; we couldn't face going home. 

Members of staff showed their support at her funeral service and we took up the offer for some couples councilling.

These charities need your support so that they can continue to offer these amazing services to as many families as possible that are going through a difficult time. 🤑💰

So thank you all again for donating towards this fantastic cause ... in honour of our beautiful daughter, Kiara ❤

FYI: Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.