A nurse is running the Principality Cardiff Half Marathon in memory of her daughter who tragically died at just 10 days old.
Lacey-Esme was born in July 2009 but sadly complications soon after meant her life was taken before it could really begin.
Her mum, Kirsty Thompson, is now taking on the Cardiff Half in memory of her daughter, who would have been 15 in 2024 – and she’ll be doing so as part of a group of 15, alongside her close friends and family.
When Lacey-Esme was born doctors discovered she had Down’s Syndrome.
Kirsty, from Chepstow, said: “To say it was a shock was an understatement as we had no idea. It didn’t matter though as she was perfect in our eyes and would get all the love and care she needed from us and our family and friends.”
Kirsty and her husband Patrick spent the next five days in hospital with their daughter as she needed a little extra care. She was slow to feed and needed a feeding tube alongside her bottle.
Kirsty said: “Lacey-Esme was so tiny that none of the clothes we’d bought fit her, so Patrick and her nanna went shopping. We just couldn’t wait to get her home and start our new life as a family.”
Sadly, on the day they were expecting to come home, their little girl took a turn for the worse and her breathing became erratic.
Doctors discovered milk had got into her lungs and she was rushed to the special care baby unit before being transferred to The Royal London Hospital. There she was put on life support.
Kirsty said: “Sitting watching your tiny baby trying to fight is the hardest thing in the world. There was nothing we could do but talk to her, tell her stories and hope that she’d pull through. Her life was now about making it through to the next hour.”
However, just as Lacey-Esme started to show signs of improvement, she was hit with a further set-back. She’d developed a blood infection.
At just 10 days old, Kirsty and Patrick were told the news that every parent dreads. The doctors didn’t think that their daughter was going to make it.
Kirsty said: “We were taken to a room and the consultant and nurse told us that she wasn’t responding to treatment. They said they’d do all they can for her, but she’d tell us when she’d had enough.
“They asked us if we’d like her christened and what we’d like to happen when her time came. She was christened just before midday and all we could do was sit, wait and hope for a miracle. We joked that she’d be grounded forever for putting us through this, but inside our hearts were breaking.
“Then just after 7pm that night, her consultant gave us a look that we’ll never forget. Her tubes were unhooked, and she was passed into our arms as she became an angel.”
As the couple grieved for their baby daughter, they knew they wanted to do something to keep her memory alive. And for the next 10 years they, together with friends and family, took part in fundraising challenges to raise money for the Down’s Syndrome Association and the hospital that looked after her.
They ran the Cardiff Half Marathon each year, did a jelly welly walk across the Severn Bridge alongside raffles, cake sales and an annual football match.
Kirsty, who is now mum to Jaiden, 13, Caleb, 11, and Isla, two, said: “As time has gone on, I am in a much better place. Grief is a journey I have now realised, it never ends, it changes. Grief, I have learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. I still think of Lacey-Esme all the time. There are still moments of what ifs and if she was here, I can only dream. She’s always loved and never forgotten, in fact she’s the reason I became a nurse.
“The charity work that we did for those 10 years was what we needed to do to get us to this place. Over the years numerous friends and family have run the Cardiff Half Marathon in Lacey’s memory, and I thought on the year I turn 40 why not do it once more. I put a post on social media about it and now have a team of around 15 people running to celebrate her and all we have achieved in her memory.”
Matt Newman, Chief Executive at event organisers, Run 4 Wales, commented: “We have so many incredible and inspiring runners who take part in the Cardiff Half each year and Kirsty is proof of that. We can’t wait to cheer Kirsty and her team of runners around the course as they run again for Lacey-Esme and celebrate their brilliant fundraising efforts over the years.”
