Family to remember their 'little fighter’ with benefit night

Last July, Sinead Bird and Mark Lynch from Ros na Ri, Navan, were overjoyed to welcome their third baby girl into the world.
But their joy was replaced with heartbreak and devastation 10 days later when their little daughter, Grace Hannah, passed away.
A post-mortem revealed that baby Grace had contracted a virus that is fatal in newborn babies and, despite putting up a huge fight, she lost her battle and passed away in the arms of her family.
Grace would have celebrated her first birthday on 3rd July and Sinead and Mark wanted to not only mark Grace’s birthday but also raise funds for Feileacain, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland.
The charity provides support for parents who have lost a child and also give them a beautiful memory box that includes a handprints and footprint kit, a box for a lock of hair and two little teddies - one for the baby and one for the family, which are switched before burial.
There is a blanket to wrap the baby in and parents can chose to bury their child in the blanket or keep it with them and the memory box is also a place to store precious memories like photos, hospital bands or incubator signs.
The charity also provides cold cots to hospitals which allows families keep their baby with them for longer.
“We really wanted to give something back and also mark Grace’s first birthday which is on 3rd July,” said Ms Bird. The Grace’s Day Benefit will take place in the Newgrange Hotel in Navan on Friday 5th July from 9pm. Music will be by Ray Murtagh and Ollie Bird, Hubby and Mark (of Stop the Clock) and Peadar and Michael. There will be a monster auction and raffle on the night.
Baby Grace was born four weeks early on Tuesday 3rd July last year in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. She was brought to the special care unit to get her breathing and feeding started and Sinead said she did really well for a couple of days.
“She was never very sick but there were issues around her temperature and feeding. For eight days, she was up and down. She went from the incubator to the cot and back to the incubator and back to her cot. I was also kept in for eight days as I had a temperature and headaches and wasn’t feeling very well,” she recalled.
Three days after Grace was born, a lumber puncture was carried out and this came back clear for bacterial infections.
Sinead went home the following Wednesday and was told to prepare to bring her baby home the next day. However, the next morning she received a call to tell her that Grace wasn’t well and to come to the hospital.
Grace’s heart had stopped beating but the medical team managed to restart it with CPR. Her liver had swelled and doctors were in touch with the Rotunda Hosptial, which specialises in organs, and they agreed to send a ambulance for her.
Doctors did all they could but her heart stopped beating again. Once again, the doctors did CPR. They told her parents that if her heart dropped below a certain level there was nothing they could do and peace would have to take over. They gave baby Grace to her parents to hold and she passed away a few minutes later.
A post-mortem examination was carried out and further tests from the lumber puncture fluid showed Grace had signs of a virus that is quite common in children and adults but is fatal to newborn babies under 10 days old as it attacks the heart and liver.
It is thought that Sinead contracted the virus late in pregnancy and this is why she was also sick. Baby Grace’s heart and liver were badly damaged and even if she had made it to the Rotunda, her mum said she would have needed a heart transplant. The majority of newborn babies who get the virus do not survive.
“She put a massive fight up, though we didn’t know it at the time. The fact she lived for 10 days is unbelieveable. She really did fight for the whole time, we just didn’t know how much of a fight she was putting up,” said Sinead.
The couple are also parents to Trishie, who is almost six, and Kate, almost three, and the family got to bring baby Grace home and have some time with her before the funeral service and burial.
The Grace’s Day Benefit night takes place on 5th July in the Newgrange Hotel. Entry is €10 at the door or tickets can be bought by contacting Sinead on (086) 885 7385.
Anyone who would like to donate a prize for the raffle or auction, or make a donation, can also do so by contacting Sinead.