Couple raise £20,000 in the memory of tragic son

Published on Thursday 15 January 2009 09:19

THE parents of a baby who died at just six days old have dedicated themselves to fundraising in his memory.

Already 20,000 has been collected by Livingston couple Pamela Kerkhoff and Phil Mallon's campaign to provide St John's Hospital in Livingston and the ERI with specialist equipment to help premature babies.

They lost son Luke as he struggled to breath on his own after being born at only 30 weeks.

But after tireless campaigning and fundraising, it is believed a deal is close to securing the equipment – probably a respiratory bi-pap machine – for NHS Lothian.

Their fundraising came from the couple's desire for no-one else to experience the heartache they did when Luke died in May 2007.

Financial worker Mr Mallon said they were well on the way to supplying the machines to help with breathing and monitoring.

"After losing Luke we wanted to do something positive," he said. "We asked people to donate money for this instead of flowers and many people did. We want to continue to raise more money and awareness, especially for the neo-natal unit at St John's. We don't know how much we can raise because we started fairly recently."

The Luke4life charity has worked on numerous initiatives, including everything from pub quizzes to charity balls.

As well as raising cash for the equipment, the organisation wants to support research into pregnancy-related illnesses resulting in premature birth.

The equipment will benefit the health board, given that a rise in complicated pregnancies is expected as women continue to give birth older.

Medical advances also give premature babies an improved chance of survival, of which the bi-pap machine – a device which pumps air into the lungs and holds the lungs open for longer so more oxygen can get in – is part.

Baby Luke eventually succumbed to pre-eclampsia, weighing only 2lbs 12ozs.

The experience was a particularly painful one for Ms Kerkhoff, 34,who had previously been told by medics that she would never have babies after being diagnosed with Empty Follicle Syndrome – a condition which makes IVF a fruitless exercise, and later polycycstic ovarian syndrome – a common cause of infertility in females.

But in a twist of fortune, she went to her local GP for antibiotics a few months after meeting Mr Mallon, who insisted she take a pregnancy test.

Despite insisting this was pointless, she obliged – only to find she was indeed pregnant.

Tragically, 27 weeks into pregnancy, she fell ill and demonstrated the signs of pre-eclampsia, like swollen feet, fatigue and pounding headaches.

After a battle lasting less than a week, Luke suffered a brain bleed leaving him unable to breath unassisted and the only option was to switch his ventilator off.