Mother who lost unborn son in road crash launches fundraiser to help others

The parents of a young baby boy who died following a fatal road crash have launched an appeal to fundraise for a stillbirth and neonatal death support charity. 

Baby Jax James Aylward was born and died in January 2024 following a fatal road crash.

His parents, Saoirse and Nathan, along with his big sister Eva says they would love to raise funds in his memory for the charity Féileacáin that supported them with a memory box. They also had access to a cuddle cot via the hospital following his death.

Saoirse was being driven to a family party along the main N25 Rosslare Road earlier this year when disaster struck.

Now they are aiming to do something to help families who suffer such a loss and have launched a GoFund me fundraiser aiming to raise much needed funds for the Féileacáin charity. 

Cuddle cots are special cots that enable parents to spend time with their stillborn baby.

They had the use of a cuddle cot when Jax was born which allowed them to spend precious time with him in hospital and at home before his funeral.

Féileacáin also supplied a memory box and big sister teddy bear for Eva that allowed them to have get footprints, photos and measurements, and two teddies, one that Saoirse can have and one that Jax kept with him.

"There are no words to describe how important the memories are of the short time they have had with baby Jax, and that they have found it comforting to have reminders that they can look at and hold," they outline on the GoFundMe page. 

It costs €50 to sponsor a box for another family and they would love to provide that chance for other parents that may find themselves in the same position.

Féileacáin was formed by a group of bereaved parents to offer support to anyone affected by the death of a baby around the time of birth, and the organisation is now the national charity supporting families affected by perinatal loss.

Féileacáin is a not for profit organisation and receives no funding from central government, relying instead on the support of our community and the families who avail of their services.

The GoFundMe page had reached close to €10,000 by lunchtime on Thursday, far exceeding its original target of €3,500. 

Details of the page are here