Family’s charity work will keep Mia’s memory alive

Sep 1 2007 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

A COUPLE who lost their baby to cot death have spoken for the first time of how the tragedy changed their lives forever.

Maria and James Conley described how they awoke to discover every parent’s nightmare, a year ago.

Their cherished daughter Mia had fallen asleep never to wake up, a victim of sudden infant death syndrome, also known as cot death, at just five months old.

The baby had rolled onto her stomach as she slept beside her mother, and somehow stopped breathing. Her parents will never know why.

It has been a pain that few will ever truly understand. But, in the last 12 months, the Kirkby family has kept going to raise nearly £25,000 for the baby charity that helped them through their darkest days.

Mrs Conley, 28, said: “It’s something I wouldn’t wish upon anybody. It is horrible. We miss her so much. We called Mia our princess. She was a very clever, very happy baby and she made me so proud, I would love showing her off.

“We really wanted a daughter because we had two boys.”

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Sids) affects more than 300 babies in the UK every year, with more than 60 of those in the North West.

It is the biggest killer of babies over one month old.

Just months after their loss, needing something to focus on, the Conleys decided to put their efforts into fundraising for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.

In December of last year, they began in earnest with a charity parachute jump which raised nearly £3,000.

Mrs Conley said: “It is so hard, and there are days when I don’t want to get out of bed, but I had to get myself together and pick myself up.

“At that point I was really going downhill. I had my two boys, but I’d lost my little girl. So the charity work is to keep Mia’s memory alive.”

The family, including sons James, eight, and five-year-old Joe, put collection buckets around their local shops in Kirkby which were regularly filled, before starting to organise a charity auction night.

The event, held at the Stonebridge Inn, in Croxteth, in July, raised more than £18,000 in one night, with donations from sporting superstars as well as gifts from community shops, a balloon release and a good-humoured chest waxing.

A signed pair of boxing gloves from Ricky Hatton raised £3,300 alone, while other donations from Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and other footballers also boosted the coffers.

Friend of the family Coleen McLoughlin made an appearance at the event, personally donating a bag of her new perfume and other items for raffle prizes.

Yesterday, the Conleys marked the anniversary of Mia’s passing with a trip to a lily pond which she loved, and by handing the cheque for £23,561 over to FSID, a leading baby charity that works to prevent sudden deaths and promote infant health.

It funds research, supports bereaved families, promotes baby care advice, and works to improve investigations when a baby dies.

Mrs Conley, who says she is thrilled to be expecting another baby in March, added: “It’s just people like us, who have been through a tragedy like this, who help keep FSID going.

“It’s about giving these babies a chance of life, and to help other mums, and that’s why we do it, to give a little back.”

Nicola Peckett, from FSID, said that the Conleys’ charity night was the largest donation ever raised in a single night for the charity.

She said: “Maria’s fundraising efforts have been absolutely fantastic, and all the money she has raised will help to save babies’ lives.”

For more information, contact the FSID helpline on 020 7233 2090 or www.fsid.org.uk.

There is also a tribute to Mia on the Gone Too Soon website.

vickyanderson