A Morecambe couple who tragically lost their baby boy have raised more than £20,000 to help families in the same situation.
Emma Holt and Niall Cowperthwaite's son Marley was stillborn at nearly six months after being found to have a heart defect.
During this traumatic experience, Emma and Niall were given comfort that they got to stay with Marley in hospital for two days thanks to a 'cooling cot'.
The cot preserves the body, helping parents to bond with their baby and aids the grieving process.
The couple said they will "cherish the moments we got to spend with Marley in our hearts forever" and they have been fundraising so more hospitals around the UK can have cooling cots too.
Marley's heart issue was picked up when Emma went for her 20-week scan.
"They said to us, we feel there's something not quite right," she said.
"They explained they could only see two chambers in Marley's heart, on the scan.
"Then we had to wait a couple of weeks, which was horrible.
"They told us he had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, so only two of the heart chambers had grown and developed.
"They said they didn't think surgery would be successful."
Emma and Niall had to make the heartbreaking decision to end the pregnancy and in December, she gave birth to Marley in hospital at nearly six months pregnant.
"Usually you get only four hours with your baby afterwards which we thought was awful," said Emma.
"But they brought in a cooling cot, which meant we could stay as long as we wanted. I was being treated for an infection so I was in there for about two-and-a-half days. We had him with us the whole time.
"We then wanted to give something back and we liked the idea of the cooling cot. It gave us a bit of comfort, that we got to spend time with him.
"Then we found the charity Abigail's Footsteps on line."
Abigail's Footsteps is a child bereavement charity, providing support for bereaved parents and specialist bereavement training for healthcare professionals. The charity also funds cooling cots for hospitals, which cost £2,800 each.
So far Abigail's Footsteps has delivered cots to more than 100 hospitals and hospices in the UK and Ireland.
So the couple decided to start raising money for more cooling cots, and throughout this year have had huge support.
Niall and a team of friends and family, including Emma's cousin Karen Povey, and Tom Kilifin, Kyle Lewis, Ella Rogers and Abby MacPherson, took on the Great North Run, the world's biggest half marathon, running 13.1 miles on Sunday from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to South Shields, to raise funds. 'Marley's Warriors' are pictured below.
Niall will also be running the Manchester half marathon on October 13, alongside Rob Wilson, Martin Grundy, Scott Ferguson, Chelsea Ferguson, Elaine Smith, Matt Smith, Tom Kilifin, Jamie Chick, Ryan Appleby, Christian Sloan, Matthew Dodwell, Curt Anderson, Richard Hart and Vicky Ormerod.
The couple also organised a 'Bongo Bingo' night, raising £8000, and Emma's son Henry also tackled a 'Tough Mudder' course.
Niall, who is originally from Grange-over-Sands, formerly played football for Lancaster City FC and now plays for Kendal Town. Lancaster City also raised money towards the cause, as have Emma's employers Axa Insurance.
So far the funds have paid for cooling cots in Preston and Leicester, and there are two more on order.
"We really didn't expect it to go as well as it has," said Emma.
"The fundraising has got us through this year and everyone has been so lovely."
The couple, who live in Bare, have now had some amazing news as Emma is expecting a baby next year.
If you would like to donate in memory of Marley, you can find Emma and Niall's fundraising page here.
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