A GIFT FROM THE BABY WE LOST
After the heartbreak, couple can celebrate
LITTLE Arabella Sanderson cuddles up to a pillow made from the blanket of her late brother.
And her proud parents say she is a gift from Zachary after he slipped away when they made the heartbreaking decision to turn off their baby boy’s life support machine.
Now they believe Zach lives on through Arabella as she is the spitting image of her big brother.
Zach was just six weeks old when he died in the arms of his parents.
Diagnosed with a one in a million condition, Zach’s short life left an imprint on the hearts of all those who met him.
Born at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary weighing 5lbs 3oz, the couple’s first-born arrived three weeks early via caesarean section.
Caroline Williams, 30, and Andrew, 34, of The Staithes, Gateshead, knew from a 20-week scan that their son would be born with bilateral talipes – also known as clubfoot – but had no idea how their lives were about to change forever.
After he arrived in the world, medics realised there was an issue with Zachary’s breathing, and doctors took the newborn straight off to the hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit.
Put on to oxygen, a series of tests were carried out and, after a week, medics told the couple their son was suffering from moebius syndrome, an extremely rare condition which results in life-long facial paralysis, meaning Zach would never smile.
There are less than 200 people living with the condition in the UK.
Zach’s problems continued to worsen and doctors realised he was also suffering from central sleep apnoeas, where his brain occasion-
ally stopped telling the body to breathe.
The deterioration resulted in him turning blue and needing to be resuscitated, forcing doctors to perform a tracheostomy in the hope of getting oxygen into his body.
Eventually, medics told Caroline and Andrew that their son would never come off the ventilator, he would never walk, and he would never talk.
And so the couple were faced with every parent’s worst nightmare.
Six weeks after he was born, Zachary was taken home on a tiny stretcher, attached to a ventilator.
Accompanied by a doctor and nurse, he went into the living room of his family home for the first time.
“We sat on the couch with him and held him and he just slipped away. It was the hardest thing, you feel you are never going to be the same. Andy is doing all these charity events in memory of Zach, we feel a positive has come out of it,” said Caroline.
“We feel Arabella is a gift from Zach. She is so good, she doesn’t cry very often, she sleeps very well and she is a happy and content baby. I feel he has sent her.”
Andy has raised more than £12,000 for Tiny Lives charity to say thank you for the help and support they received.
And just weeks after Arabella was born, Caroline and Andy took her to Saltwell Cemetery to her brother’s graveside.
“It was a hard feeling but such a nice feeling at the same time,” added Caroline.
Arabella, now three months old, was born healthy in the same hospital as Zach and met the medics who looked after her sibling. She now has the nursery that Zach would have occupied.
“At the moment she is sleeping next to us, but she will go into the room Zach would have used. It was really hard to re-do his room but we say they are sharing it.
“We had Zach’s blanket made into a pillow and his clothes made into a patchwork blanket for Arabella. She sleeps really well next to her pillow, she even looks like Zach when she’s asleep.
“Everything that has happened is heartbreaking but through it we have met so many nice people. When Arabella was born we had so many cards, it was lovely.”
Andy ran 12 half marathons last year and is running two marathons this year.
■■Anyone wanting to donate can visit www.justgiving.com/remember/246115/ZacharySanderson