A GARNDOLBENMAEN mum has continued her Christmas tradition of handing out hampers to nurses and staff at a children’s ward in memory of the daughter she lost 28 years ago.
Caroll Ann Morris has gifted the hampers to staff at Dewi and Minfordd wards and at the T? Enfys unit of Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor for the past six years.
Caroll lost her daughter Deberah Ann just before her fourth birthday to a deteriorating brain disease brought on by chicken pox on 22 December 1990.
Caroll said that giving something back to the staff at the hospital that did all they could for her daughter has helped her cope.
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Her other daughter, Allana, also spent 10 days in the Special Care Baby Unit after being born eight weeks early and contracting strep B.
Allana, 15, helps deliver the hampers each year, and the pair visited the hospital on Christmas Eve to hand out the baskets full of treats.
Christmas time is a tough time for Caroll, but she said talking about Deberah and visiting the children’s wards at the hospital help her to deal with the “grief and the loss”.
“The day our child dies is the day that changes us forever,” she said.
“My wonderful Deberah Ann fought a long battle of an unknown deteriorating brain disease. She lost that battle 28 years ago. She was three years, 11 months and 22 days old, and was buried on New Year’s Eve – her fourth birthday.
“It helps me talking about her openly.
“She died from Meningelcolce Septesemia brought on from Chicken pox. It hit her hard as she had no immunity as she had been receiving hydrocorteson injections to try and alleviate the fits that could no longer be controlled.
“It was hard watching her deteriorate with each passing day. She died at home in her own bed in Snowdon Street, Penygroes. She is buried by the feet of late grandfather William Morris. I miss her very much.
“Going to the hospital, as I have been doing for the last six years, to deliver hampers to the staff is wonderful. They all appreciate the effort, and they do amazing work.
“It helps me to give something back to them, and remember Deberah over Christmas.”