‘Our daughter from Fife died aged just six weeks – now we want to help other parents’

A Fife couple have told of their heartbreak at the death of their baby daughter – and how it has inspired them to help others.

Joe and Louise Richards from Cupar lost their daughter Eilidh in 2019 to a rare condition.

The tot was in hospital for all of her short life and the couple say they want to keep her memory alive.

Joe will now take part in a bike ride across Scotland, to give back to a charity that helped them with accommodation during hospital visits.

Louise, 35, says she had a health pregnancy – so the loss of their daughter came out of the blue.

She said: “I had an emergency C-section at 38 weeks in August 2019. Eilidh was 5lbs 8oz so a bit smaller than normal. Apart from that small she seemed fine.

“The next morning they took her to the special baby unit to keep an eye on her. We didn’t think anything was wrong and they told us it was quite normal for babies to have this issue.”

However, Eilidh was then transferred to Edinburgh’s Sick Kids hospital after a week and she was put on a ventilator as her condition worsened.

Doctors initially believed she may have a liver condition that can affect newborns and she was flown to hospital in London – where she was diagnosed with incurable mitochondrial disease, meaning her cells were not producing enough energy.

Louise and Joe, also 35, were told their daughter would not survive and she was given palliative care before passing away in late September 2019.

Louise said: “She was six weeks old but we made a lot of memories with her and took photos every day.

“Joe read her a lot of Roald Dahl books.

“I grew up in a catholic family so we had a christening for her in the hospital chapel.

“It was six weeks almost to the hour that she died.

‘After she died we didn’t know how to address it’

“We kept watching the numbers go down on the monitors so the nurses switched those off.

“Along with both our parents we just sat there in silence holding, watching and listening to her, never knowing when her last breath would be.

“We felt like our own lives stopped for six weeks and we were living a different one.

“We supported each other throughout it and broke down when she finally passed.

“She was our rainbow baby – I had a miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy before her.

“After she died we didn’t know how to address it, we still don’t. People knew I was pregnant and would expect a baby but there was no baby there.”

Ronald McDonald House helped Joe and Louise with accommodation while in London, and now Joe’s fundraiser is aiming to give something back to the charity.

Along with some family members, he will cycle from Annan to St Andrews, a distance of 173 miles, from April 21-23.

He hopes to raise £5,000 and has launched an online fundraising page.

Louise – who had another daughter, Wren, with Joe eight months ago – added: “We’d love it if we can help others even a little bit and raise awareness of the charity.

“You don’t know about them until you’re in that situation.”