A cuddle to help ease the pain
Courageous parents donate cots to hospital
The brave mum and dad of a stillborn baby girl hope their donation of special ‘cuddle cots’ will help ease the pain of other parents in their darkest hour.
Corporal Michael McLeod and his wife Jillian suffered the ultimate loss when their little baby Lucy was born sleeping in December last year.
The devastated Johnstone couple were able to spend precious moments with her thanks to a specialist piece of equipment and now they want other families to have the same opportunity.
Michael, 27, who has served with the Royal Regiment of Scotland for seven years and his wife Jillian, 28, handed over five ‘cuddle cots’ to the maternity ward of the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Michael, said: “The cuddle cots will help other parents in the same position we were in. We were able to spend tome with Lucy and create memories with her in our own house.
“We hadn’t ever heard of cuddle cots before this happened to us. We want to raise awareness of them and let people know that they are available if you need them.
“We have managed to raise about £7,000 so far. Every time we have enough money we have bought a cuddle cot. We want everyone who has donated to see where their money is going. These are really important pieces of equipment of for the maternity unit.”
A cold, or cuddle, cot fits inside a moses basket and helps preserve the appearance,condition and dignity of the baby.
Jillian, 28 explained that they were the first family allowed to take a cuddle cot home with them from the Royal Alexandra Hospital which allowed the couple to spend vital hours with their baby girl in their own house.
She explained: “We got Lucy home with us. I think we were the first family to get the opportunity to take a cuddle cot home from this hospital. It was good to get away from the hospital environment and back to our own house.
The consultant who looked after Jillian at the RAH was delighted with the donation and spoke movingly about the strength and dignity the couple have shown.
Consultant Mr Jim Robins said: “I want to say a very,very big thank you to Michael and Jillian for all of your magnificent efforts.
“These cuddle cots will help out so much, not just here at the RAH but also across Scotland.
“For the very brief time that I have known them they have shown great dignity in dealing with everything that has happened. They are clearly a very strong and impressive couple.
“I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for what they have done to help other families that will benefit from these cuddle cots across the greater Glasgow area.”
Each of the five cuddle cots, which cost £1,600, are adorned with a plaque which reads, ‘Donated by Lucy’s Star in loving memory of Lucy McLeod.’
Michael explained: “The cuddle cot we had a little plaque on it saying that it had been donated so we thought it would be good to have them. We did this in Lucy’s memory.
“We’d also like to thank all our family and friends and total strangers who have supported us and donated. The support has been overwhelming.”
The family hope to continue with their fund raising efforts and are planning a number of events, including a fun day and running the Paisley 10k.
You can donate to the cause by searching for Lucy’s Star on facebook.