In loving memory of Andie
When Andie was born, she was a beautiful smiley baby. Born a twin to her brother Harley, Andie was our little battler.
At birth she went without oxygen due to a condition called Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension. She spent almost 6 weeks in the Neonatal Intensive care Unit (NICU) in Townsville Hospital. She fought hard to become well and miraculously recovered. Andie was a truly special baby. She loved acrobatic shows from her older sister Kennedy, singing and dancing to Lizzo with her mum and being cuddled by her grandma. She loved dogs and the colour orange. She was the centre of our universe.
A few days after turning 9 months old, Andie passed away suddenly while being held after a routine nappy change. It was out of nowhere.
In the early days after Andie’s death, I discovered Red Nose and the marvellous work that they do. As Mitch and I tried to come to grips with what had happened, I utilised Red Nose’s online resources. The community Red Nose has built made us feel like we were not the only ones.
The loss of a child is something that you pray will never happen, but sadly the reality is that it happens to Australian families every day. And when it does happen, it can feel life shattering - it rocks you to your very core. The support services that Red Nose provides to these families in crisis is invaluable.
What I would say to any other families going through similar pain is that you will get through it, even if right now you don’t think you can. Just keep putting each foot in front of the other and start by getting through the day.
We found that honouring our daughter helped ease the pain. We speak of Andie often and remember her fondly. We encourage our children to remember her too, and don’t shy away from hard conversations surrounding her death. These things have helped us navigate our grief as best as we could.
As the proud co-owners of Paradise Outdoor Advertising, we are excited to be able to offer Red Nose space on our billboards to help raise awareness for this wonderful organisation.
This Red Nose Day we will be fundraising in honour of our daughter Andie. We were the second highest fundraisers in the country in 2022 and hope to be the highest in 2023.
Let’s get silly for a serious cause.
