Would you stoop so low?

Hello,

This blog is about what happened when my daughter visited Isabellas resting place earlier this week.

Only those who have lost children will appreciate the importance of making their grave as beautiful as you can, making it colourful by ensuring it has nice flowers etc.

This is where you go to be close to your child, you make it beautiful and peaceful because you are looking after them. Its a place to go to think, reflect and to talk to them. Its supposed to be a calming place.

We have tried to make Isabellas plot as nice as we can, each set of grandparents have purchased the plot either side so we can all be together in the future. This has enabled us to extend her garden to be able to make room for all the flowers that family are constantly taking. The local council only allow the garden to extend out 300mm but do allow it to extend to neighbouring plots.

We have even purchased a bench with her name on a plaque so people can sit and spend time with her.

It is a beautiful place when the sun is shinning, her garden looks lovely. Its is a wonderful tribute to our little girl.

So bearing all this in mind can someone please explain to me why when this is so obviously a babies grave, do some scum bags (and believe me I have toned that down) feel the need to steal things off the grave?????

I actually cant believe some people could stoop so low!

When my daughter visited the other day she noticed that two small vases that had been halve buried into the ground had been taken and this is not the first time. The vases were not expensive and dont have any real sentimental value so what is the point!

Do these low life not know the heartbreak their selfish actions cause, the thought that someone has walked up to my granddaughters grave stooped down and pulled these items out of the ground sickens me.

My daughter was in tears, this is the last thing she needs after what she has been through. Why dont these people think?

I dont know how to prevent it, the cemetery is open 24 hours a day, do we put a sign up saying dont steal off this grave you bas#@rds.

This is not the only problem we have encountered. We have stumbled across drunks or should I say they have stumbled across us, others take their dogs but instead of keeping them on their leads they think its ok to let them run loose. There is a new section in the cemetery next to the part where Isabella is, its an open plot of land being prepared for future burials but these dog owners think its ok for them to let their dogs sprint around on there barking and pooing everywhere. Its still part of the cemetery even if it is not occupied.

I could rage on about this matter for hours if I let myself!

A cemetery is a sacred place, its full of loved ones being visited by their family. Its the only place these family members have to spend time with their departed why cant people be more considerate.

 David

Life as an Elephant

On Sunday the 20th May 2012 members of team Isabella ran the Bupa Manchester 10K.

I was obviously part of this team but there was one main difference, I ran dressed as an Elephant and not just any elephant but our mascot called Peanut.

Over the last few weeks before the race and I told everyone what I was planning to do everybody asked me the same three questions 1) Are you Mad, 2) Why is your mascot an elephant and 3) why have you called it Peanut?

Well the answer to the first question is yes, but elephants and peanuts just seemed to have a running theme all the way through Amanda's pregnancy.

It all started when Amanda showed me her first scan and I happened to say that Isabella looked like a peanut, well I thought it was more diplomatic than saying she looked like a alien! However this then became my nickname for Isabella and from then on I always asked how she and Peanut were.

But that was just the start and coincidences just grew from that moment.

Nicola, Amanda's mum spotted a toy elephant in mamma's and pappa's so she bought it, it turned out that this range was called ....peanut!

The very first teddy Amanda bought for Isabella was from the Disney shop, and it was a dumbo the elephant soft toy which had a wonder perfume smell, and the first pink toy was bought by Amanda's sister Rebecca and it was a pink elephant from Chester Zoo.

Its no surprise Rebecca has a soft spot for elephants because when she was little the only way we could get her to stop using her dummy was for her to throw it to the elephants in Chester zoo, but that's another story.

A few weeks later Amanda and Geoff received a present in the post from Geoff's sister who lived in Australia, it was a soft teddy which was in fact a baby in a peanut shell.

It sounds obvious but nobody actually spotted there was a theme to all this until Isabella was born and lying in her cot in the maternity ward. Amanda asked for all the teddies that people had bought to be taken to the hospital and the teddies where put in Isabella's cot with her. It was only then when she was lying there surrounded by the soft toys that Amanda and Geoff realised that a lot of people had bought a toy elephant with a connection to a peanut.

It really hit home when the maternity staff provided Amanda with a "Joshua Box" basically a keepsake box donated by another Charity that contained items which they felt would be useful to families who lost children. The people who set up the charity had lost a child themselves named Joshua and the items in the box included a camera, pen and paper, foot and hand print kits. These where items that they thought would have helped them after they lost their son. The boxes are a brilliant idea and provided some comfort at a difficult time. However they also contain one other thing, a little soft toy. It just happened that the soft toy in the box provided for Isabella was an elephant.

From this moment onwards Elephants have always had a connection to Isabella.

Then about two months ago we had just set up the Foundation and I was watching one of the many music channels on tv when Coldplay's paradise video came on, if you haven't seen it the whole band are dressed as elephants running around, its then that I thought that I could do that and the bright idea to run the 10K in one of them costumes started.

So Peanut the elephant mascot was born!

I have to admit I did began to wonder what I had done when I put on the costume on the way to the run. I soon began to think this was a stupid idea, I could hardly see where I was walking never mind run.

However once we got to the start I absolutely loved it.

Firstly I got interviewed by the Manchester Evening News only a small interview but that and a picture in the paper must have helped raise our profile.

Secondly the atmosphere was amazing! I have taken part in this event for the last 6 years and the people always line the streets of the run cheering the crowd on, but this time it was different. There was an excitement amongst the crowd when they saw a 6ft+ pink elephant running towards them.

I lost count of the amount of people who cheered my name or just shouted come on big elephant (I think it was meant in a nice way). Some of fellow runners even slowed down mid race to tell me what I was doing was fantastic and the pats on the back from other runners were constant.

The look on the children's faces is something I will never forget, I had to give that many high fives my hand actually hurt more than my legs and at one point I was zig zaging across the road to and from the crowd as more and more people asked for pictures.

The biggest buzz was seeing my family and the rest of Team Isabella (who had already finished) just before the finish, they provided the biggest cheer of the day.

I crossed the finish line in 1 hour and 26mins not the best time but in my defence it was a boiling hot day and it was sweltering in that costume.

When I crossed the finish line I was emotional, I knew I had done my granddaughter proud we all had and at the end of the day that is why we are doing it.

We think we know why elephants are so important to us. Elephants never forget and we will never forget our Angel Isabella.

Isabella Rose - My Granddaughter

Hello,

I was told that one of the best ways to help promote your charity is to do a blog, to explain who you are and what you do. So I set one up, then I realised I didn't know how to go about it and wasn't sure what to write.

Then today I was given some advice, just tell your story and why you wanted to set up the Foundation. Just be yourself so here goes.

I thought I would do exactly that and explain why I set up the Isabella Rose Foundation, why I am totally obsessed with it and why it is so important to me that it becomes a success.

Isabella Rose is first grandchild and I remember the day my daughter Amanda announced that she and her fiancee Geoff were having a baby.

Well to be honest it was my wife Nicola who broke the news gently to me to prepare me for the shock before my daughter came home. And shock it was, as a parent I had my concerns you want the best for your children and at 22 I thought my daughter was too young.

We had Amanda when we were 18 and we always tried to teach her that whist we wouldn't change a thing having her at such an early age was a very difficult start to life.

We had always told her to get her life sorted, qualifications, good Job, good income etc before she had children yet here she was at 22 just started her new job and she announced she was pregnant.

All that didn't seem important when I saw her face and I and gave her a hug when she came in, my little girl was having a baby and that was all that mattered.

The next few months were horrendous for her, she suffered really badly with morning sickness and had a few scares, it seemed we were constantly worried about her and her health.

Eventually everything settled down and me and my wife had started to really look forward to the birth of our Granddaughter Isabella Rose.

Then came the day that will haunt us for the rest of our lives. Saturday 15th October 2011.

I was in the living room alone watching Saturday morning football when Amanda came in upset, she hadn't felt Isabella move and couldn't hear her heartbeat on the monitor.

My heart dropped, but I still tried to look calm and reassure Amanda that everything was alright, even though inside I was in complete panic.

Amanda, Geoff and Nicola went to the hospital, I stayed at home to sort out things for my other children. I was praying that that everything was ok, but deep down I knew it wasn't.

It seemed to take a life time before my wife Nicola rang me to tell me "we have lost her".

Heartbroken doesn't come close to how I felt, but auto pilot kicks in, its not about me its about Amanda and Geoff.

I rushed to the hospital to see my daughter, the next bit I will leave out its very personal and its not my story to tell. Its Amanda's and Geoff's and hopefully they will feel up to adding their own blog.

Sunday 16th October 2011 Isabella was born asleep.

A lot of what happened next seems a blur. To be honest I think I have blocked a lot of it out its only now while I am writing this that certain things are coming back to me.

For instance I remember sitting in the corridor outside the maternity ward on a low level window cill looking out of the window, in a daze. As I looked out of the window at everyone going about their business I just couldn't understand why the world just carried on, I wanted to scream and in fact I did, I just couldn't help it.

The next few months were horrendous, as dad to see your daughter in so much pain is devastating. If one of my children have a problem its my job to protect them to sort the problem out to make everything alright except this time there is absolutely nothing I can do. I am useless and I hate it!

Not only are we worrying about our daughter but we have lost our granddaughter as well.

I suppose I am trying to look for some positives and in a way we were "lucky" in the fact that we got to be with Isabella for a few days, and we got to hold her.

When I got to hold her in my arms I promised her two things 1) I will always look after her mum and 2) I will never ever forget her.

And this is how the Isabella Rose Foundation came to be.

This is my way of making my granddaughter proud, to do the best I can for her, to keep her memory alive.

I don't mind admitting that I am obsessed with the Foundation, its practically all I think about. I am proud of it and I really want to make it grow and raise as much money as I can to help our charities.

I don't think people outside of my close family appreciate what the Foundation means to me and why I do what I do, I can have seen some people roll their eyes when I talk about it, when I'm coming up with yet another fund raising idea.

And to be totally honest its only tonight when I showed this to Nicola that we actually realised why I am so passionate about it, to me the foundation is my granddaughter! I don't have her so I have this. I'm just being the best granddad I can be and by doing the best I can to help others in her name then I am doing my best for her.

Thank you for reading

David

First Ever Blog

Hello,

I suppose thats a good place to start lol.

My name is David and I run the Isabella Rose Foundation non profit charity. Isabella is my beautiful granddaughter who was born asleep on the 16th October 2011. Her mum is my daughter Amanda.

We have all been devasted by the loss of Isabella and we wanted to do something to ensure she wouldnt be fogotten (not that she ever would be), a better way to describe it would be we wanted her name to live on.

So we decided to set up the foundation to raise as much money in her name to help others with still born or premature babies.

We are donating all profits to Bliss Premature baby charity and to the Whiston hospital maternity bereavement fund.

We aim to raise money by taking part in various sporting events and are arranging a fund raising ball in September.

Over the next few weeks (when we get used to this blogging) we will be adding new bloggs, some from each member of the family and are hoping to add this to our web site www.isabellarosefoundation.co.uk

Thats all for now

Thanks for reading

David