Sarah-Lou Gee cradled her newborn baby for the first time as the whirring and beeping of his life support machine gradually came to a stop.
She had never held him properly before. Tragically, their first meeting was also their final goodbye. Dainton-Lee was seven weeks premature when he was born on August 22, 2013 – weighing just 3lbs and 11oz.
Clinging to survival, he was immediately rushed to the neonatal unit in Wigan where he was placed on a machine to help his breathing.
Just a day later, Dainton-Lee was transferred to an intense neonatal unit by ambulance where he continued to fight for his tiny life. “When I saw him a few hours later in his incubator looking so fragile with wires and tubes everywhere, my heart shattered,” Sarah said. “As the days passed, Dainton-Lee was slowly deteriorating, which was absolutely heartbreaking to see.” After 10 agonising days, there was nothing more doctors could do.
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