From the RUHX Charity: In 2022, Helen and Mark Robertson sadly lost their daughter, Lori in a car accident. She had just qualified as a paediatric nurse and was excited to accept a position in the Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care at the RUH Bath.
Since then, they’ve been fundraising in her memory to help the ward where she would have started her nursing career. They shared: “Our beautiful daughter passed away in a car accident before she could start her dream job as a paediatric nurse in September. In her memory we have raised well over our aim of £21,000 for the unit she was going to join, in memory of Lori and her beautiful 21 years.”
“We are so very proud with everything that Lori had achieved in her 3 years at university, and obtaining her place at the Bath NNU as a paediatric nurse. We felt that there was a need to do something that would hold her memory at the unit, therefore we started the fundraising for the project to help babies and their parents.”
Their fundraising target was £21,000 in memory of the 21-year-old Lori. And in the end over £30,000 was raised by over 825 generous supporters. Lori’s Mum Helen completed a Sky Dive, a charity disco raised over £1,000 and other donations included birthday gift and graduation celebration money meant for Lori and donations from many people that Lori had met and left a wonderful impression on including: teachers, childhood netball team, parents of other student nurses and friends and family.
‘The Lori Grace Room’, the new parent and baby residential bay, named in her memory is the creation of care for newborn babies and their parents in loving memory of Lori Robertson. Completing Lori’s sadly unfulfilled ambition to care for babies and families needing care at the premature beginning of their lives. This raised over half of the £60,000 RUHX appeal target for ‘More precious moments in NICU’, with the rest coming from many other generous RUHX supporters.
Kirstie Flood, lead nurse at the RUH Bath’s Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care said about the new facilities: “The Lori Grace room has been created as a parent and baby residential bay. Developed in room G of the Neonatal unit, it provides a safe, comfortable environment for babies and families to remain whole, receiving care as a family. This new parent and baby residential bay gives parents the opportunity to stay overnight with their baby, whilst their baby receives the clinical care they need on the neonatal unit. This offers a wealth of benefits for baby and parents, inclusive of improved brain development, growth and established feeding whilst giving maximum opportunity to build on the close and loving relationships, nurturing the family bond. This space will support the incredible family-integrated approach that we strive for and that our staff champion every single day. By working in partnership with parents to care for their baby, and in addition minimising stress and improving parental wellbeing.
The creation of a shower room within the neonatal unit, is another vital addition, providing washing facilities for our parents staying overnight. This incredible project could not have been completed without the dedicated and generous fundraising from Helen and Mark and their friends and family and we are extremely grateful.”
In addition to the care and connection benefits for families at the RUH Bath Dyson Centre for Neonatal Care, a September 2022 Bliss report concluded that “…..the additional cost to their household of having a baby or babies in neonatal care, on average was reported by parents who answered our survey as £405 per week.” in travel, food, parking, childcare and accommodation costs. These new facilities will help new families avoid these additional costs at the beginning of their time together after the birth of their newborn baby.