‘Tyler left an imprint on our lives, part of my heart died the day he left us’

Ten years ago Enfield couple Sharon and Paddy Mooney suffered unimaginable heartache when their baby son died just minutes after coming into the world. Each year they come up with different ways to remember ‘angel baby’ Tyler on his birthday - this year being a 10km walk, to raise funds for Navan Children's Respite.

An Enfield mum whose baby boy tragically passed away after he was born prematurely says celebrating his life on his birthday every year keeps his memory alive.

Sharon Mooney gave birth to her son Tyler in 2011 after complications resulted in her going into early labour at just 27 weeks pregnant.

Heartbreakingly, Sharon and her husband Paddy had just fifteen minutes with their precious boy who weighed a tiny 4lb 6oz before he passed away leaving the parents devastated.

Every year since the mum of four comes up with a way to mark Tyler’s birthday on 19th September to give the family an opportunity to remember their “angel baby.”

This year for his 10th anniversary the family decided to partake in a 10km walk, completing 1km for each year to raise funds for Navan Children's Respite, a service that is a vital support for Sharon and Paddy’s eight-year-old son, Kalvyn who was diagnosed with nonverbal autism at two years old. Speaking about the impact their tiny baby boy made on their lives Sharon said:

“Tyler was born ten years ago in 2011, I had a tumour on the placenta, and he lived for 45 minutes after birth, and he died of cardiac arrest.

“It has been a long hard ten years. Every year gets a little bit tougher because you see the milestones of other kids, when they are making their communion or starting school and they are the same age, and you are thinking he should be doing that.

“I’ll think of something every year on his birthday for the rest of my life. He left an imprint on our lives, part of my heart died the day he left us.

“I talk about Tyler every chance that I get, I don’t want him boxed off and just forgotten about, he’s a big part of our life, he’s our little boy.

“I wake up in the morning and think about him and I close my eyes at night I say goodnight, Tyler.”

Complications during the pregnancy resulted Sharon going into early labour as she explains:

“I went into labour just coming up to seven months pregnant and I was in hospital for ten days before I had him. I just thought it was Braxton Hicks and I was worrying about nothing.

“I was scanned in the hospital, and they couldn’t detect his stomach because the fluid from the placenta was covering some of his organs.

“I was sent to Holles Street hospital by ambulance because I went into labour again.

“I had Tyler at 27 weeks and four days on the 19th of September, he was 4lb 6oz and absolutely gorgeous.

“I wasn’t thinking about how early it was; I was thinking that it was over the 24-week mark and where there is life after 24 weeks, they’d fight for him do everything in their power to make sure he survived if he could.

“A doctor came back over to us, and I just asked him not to talk to me like a doctor, I asked him what you would do as a father and he said I’d take the time, that he would probably pass away in the elevator on the way to the neonatal ward on his own without me or my husband. So, we said no we want our time with him, so they worked on him for about 30 minutes and then we had fifteen minutes with him.”

Even though their adored son’s passing devastated the parents, Sharon says they are grateful to have got the chance to spend some time with their little boy. She added:

“I was pregnant with him, so I had him for the 27 weeks and four days and so when they brought him over, I said no I’ve had him for that length give him to my husband, so we just sat there with him.

“For the ten days it was like an out of body experience, I still can’t believe to this day that I have gone through that and it’s me that that happened to and to my family.

“My girls, Chelsea and Mickayla were so young at the time, and my husband had to go and tell them. They were so excited about having a little brother, I brought them for my scan so that they could see the baby on the screen and get used to having another baby in the house. Then having to tell them the news that he was gone was devastating.

“Reading back over his file, it was fifteen minutes, but it felt longer. I live those fifteen minutes all of the time and just appreciate it. A lot of people don’t get that amount of time when they have lost a baby. As a friend said to me, you have actually held a living angel.

“Of course, I’d prefer to have my angel here, but he is thought about every single day.”

“We did send Tyler for an autopsy because we didn’t have answers at the time, and we didn’t know if we’d ever get answers and I thought I don’t ever want my girls to go through what we did.

“They said it was winning the lotto twice in a lifetime, such were the chances of it happening to us again and that it was very rare.”

Sharon explains why tying in Tyler’s birthday and raising funds for the Navan Children’s Respite was so important. She said:

“At the time of Kalvyn’s diagnosis I was absolutely devastated, I was devastated for the life I want for him and his independence, I didn’t care for me but what kind of a life would Kalvyn have.

“I didn’t want him to be treated differently, he is the same as everybody else. As somebody said to me before and I live by it, I wouldn’t change Kalvyn for the world but I’d change the world for Kalvyn.

“His sleep pattern can be very up and down, he will go to sleep at 11.30 at night and that’s with the help of medication and he could be awake any time from 4am that’s why the respite service is extremely important, they give you a night’s sleep.

“They are absolutely amazing there, they go on day trips, and they ensure Kalvyn has all of the food he likes when he stays there, thankfully he had his first overnight stay recently and he loved it.

“I just want independence for him. My worry is that if anything happened to me and my husband what happens to him?

“That's why this respite is so important he has to get used to these kinds of services if something ever happens to us because until my last breath Kalvyn will be with me.”

To donate to Sharon's fundraiser search "Navan Children's Respite" on GoFundMe.