This is me and my husband Russell on our wedding day, one year ago today, on Saturday 6th April 2013:
I was absolutely ecstatic about getting married to my best friend, lover and soulmate after knowing him for over ten years, and embarking on our new life together as husband and wife. Literally a month and a half after this photo was taken, I was pregnant with Frankie.
Little did we know that we would lose him in such a devastating way. Little did we know what lay ahead for him and for us, as our happiness at being parents was taken away from us bit by bit, firstly with his diagnosis of cleft lip and palate, then with his diagnosis of talipes and nuchal odema, then when he was born sleeping, and finding out that had he lived he would have had a very rare chromosomal disorder, chromosome 15 duplication syndrome. Even now I still struggle to get my head around it all, and to understand why it had to happen to my Frankie.
What we’ve been through would have been enough to drive other couples to separation and divorce, but somehow we managed to get through it all together. We are trying our very best to stay strong and to make sure his legacy and memory never dies through the awareness raising and fundraising we are doing for the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to improve the delivery suite facilities. Our love for Frankie goes beyond all time, and we miss him so much.
As I said in a previous post, I may not be able to post on here again until next weekend. By then we’ll have been on BBC Midlands Today and have had more press coverage including radio interviews and photos taken for Live 24/7 Magazine. All the interest we’ve had feels a bit surreal!
I love my husband more than he will ever know, and despite losing Frankie I am glad we managed to get through it together and stay strong for each other, even when we’ve felt like falling apart.
And we have to say, thank you ALL for your help and support, we appreciate it more than you know.
Love from Frankie’s Mummy and Daddy, Lisa and Russell xxxxx
