MUM’S SPECIAL TOYAPPEALIN MEMORYOFSON
FOR the second year, Eilis O’Hagan is remembering her baby son Danann, who died just two days before Christmas 2018, by helping two local charities.
Eilis, who lives at Bellurgan Point with her husband Peter and children Sé (11) and Nelly (3), decided to mark little Danann’s first birthday last year by asking family and friends to bring a toy along to a special celebration in their home to be donated to charity.
‘Our son Danann Pearse was born the most gorgeous healthy boy on the December 1 2018. But on the December 23, when he was just 3 weeks old, our world turned upside down when our precious boy died suddenly in his sleep.’
She is eternally grateful to the wonderful support the family received from relatives, friends, neighbours and support groups, and says that she wanted something good to come out of their grief, so she asked people to donate toys which could be given local charities. ‘Someone suggested that I share it on Facebook and we got 147 toys and €1,010 in vouchers, which I donated to St Vincent de Paul and Women’s Aid.’
‘I couldn’t not do it again this year as it helped so many people,’ she says, adding that this Christmas in particular will be hard on many families.
‘ This year, in order to following COVID-19 restrictions, we are asking people to donate vouchers, as our chosen charities SVP and Women’s Aid are unable to accept physical donations,’ she continues, suggesting that people get vouchers for Smyths Toys, Shop Local, One for All, and major supermarkets.
Eilis has also set up a fundraising page Danann’s Toy Appeal on iFundraise.ie for those who want to make a donation and is overwhelmed by the support which she has received already, with over €2,000 donated within days of her setting up the page.
‘I really love doing charity work, it gives me something to focus on and help others,’ says Eilis, who is a volunteer driver with the North Louth Hospice.
‘We wouldn’t have got through the last few years without the support network of family and friends,’ she says. ‘ The community in Bellurgan were amazing.’
She says the family also really appreciated the wonderful support they got from First Light and Feileacain, two charities which support families affected by the death of a baby during pregnancy or shortly afterwards.
‘ They were amazing and gave us such good support,’ she says.
Eilis says she is glad that the stigma around infant death is no longer as strong as it used to be, although some people are still reluctant to talk about it.
‘I amazes me how women were treated in the past, how the death of a baby was something to be hidden and not spoken about.’
She believes it’s important to speak about these babies and she likes to talk about Danann, to keep his memory alive, especially for her two other children. ‘Sé was nine when he died and Nelly was only one so she has no memory of him. She has adopted his Teddy and blanket which is nice.’
Anyone who wants to support Danann’s Toy Appeal, can make a donation on the IFundraise. ie page or send a gift voucher to Danann’s Toy Appeal, Bellurgan Point, Dundalk A91 A5F3