Cuddle Cot to help with parents' grief

CARING TOUCH: Courtney Percy (centre), with daughter Lily-May, 2, hands over a Cuddle Cot to Wairarapa Hospital. With her are grandmother Debby Castles (left), Michelle Thomas, midwife educator and quality leadership maternity, and Alison Andrews, charge midwife manager.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

The Wairarapa Hospital was presented with a Cuddle Cot yesterday which will allow the families of stillborns to grieve with their child in the comfort of their own home.

The Cuddle Cot cooling system was presented to the hospital by Masterton mother Courtney Percy who lost her baby boy Beau Olson earlier this year.

She and partner Nick raised the $5000 for the Cuddle Cot through a crowdfunding campaign on Givealittle in just six days in July and raised another $5000 to establish the Beau Olson Trust that will fund counselling for Wairarapa families affected by the tragedy of a stillbirth.

Miss Percy said she was so thankful for the support that the community had offered in the A Cuddle for Beau Campaign, "from the businesses who donated items, to the individuals who donated money, and to the people who did the knitting to bring comfort to the cot".

"It's been really, really overwhelming just that the community has gotten behind us and supported us in this," she said.

"I just never ever expected the fundraising would happen in a week. It has been a rough road and the support that we have had has been amazing."

The Cuddle Cot was blessed by Reverend Elizabeth Snowsill who "was called in when Beau came into this world".

"The family was so together and so united, and so it was a very difficult time for all of them," she said. "I remembered it very clearly, it was a very vivid encounter, so it was really special to be able to be a part of this today."