Losing a son has led to Sharon helping 3,000 grieving families
A COVENTRY mum whose son was stillborn at almost full term has now helped more than 3,000 other grieving families through the charity she set up in memory of her son.
The update from Sharon Luca-Chatha, who lost her son Luca in 2012, comes during Baby Loss Awareness Week which runs October 9th to 15th.
Sharon set up The Luca Foundation following his passing and has since raised thousands to buy and repair refrigerated cuddle cots for maternity units, neonatal intensive care units and paediatric wards.
Her goal through the charity is to fund enough CuddleCots for every maternity unit in Britain before turning her attention to cuddle blankets.
The CuddleCot acts as a refrigerator that keeps the body cold, allowing parents to have up to a week with their baby and even take them home with that equipment.
The 46-year-old said: “It is a parent’s worst nightmare to lose their child, our world had fallen apart.
“From the moment he died on the Monday inside my womb, to the Thursday when I gave birth to him, everything was in a daze.
“We were not ready for the next blow – the limited time we had with him, knowing we would then never see him again.
“After holding onto Luca for just a few hours we had to hand him over to be taken to the mortuary.
“This caused us such trauma, we just cried uncontrollably but looking back I realise it was a defining moment when I decided I wanted every parent to have access to a CuddleCot.