Family Fun Day To Be Held In Memory Of Baby Emma

The family of a little girl who passed away at just seven weeks old are holding a Big Chocolate Tea family fun day ten years on to raise money in her memory for The Sick Children’s Trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

In 2007, Jane and Neil Braddy experienced the heartbreak of losing their baby daughter, Emma. Emma bravely fought for her life for four weeks in GOSH but lost her battle to a rare virus – enteroviral myocarditis – which attacked her heart. During this time, her parents and older brother Oliver were supported in free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation run by The Sick Children’s Trust. Guilford Street House, which is one of ten ‘Homes from Home’ run by the charity, meant Emma’s family were just a few minutes’ walk from her hospital bedside, and meant that Emma was never alone throughout her battle.

Since their tragic loss, Emma’s family – including her brothers Oliver, James and Frank – have been fundraising in her memory for The Sick Children’s Trust and GOSH. Every year, they host a Big Chocolate Tea event to help The Sick Children’s Trust support thousands more families with ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when their loved one is seriously ill in hospital.

Mum Jane hopes that by sharing Emma’s story, not only will it help raise money for the charities, but will give other parents hope. She says:

“When we lost Emma, we were left with a hole in our lives that could never be filled. There was just a black, bottomless pit of hopelessness.

“I was desperately looking for someone who had been through this, someone who was ten years on and who could tell me life would be worth living again. I just wanted to know that we could be happy again, that there was still joy out there. I needed hope. Now I have become the woman that I’d been searching for. It is ten years since Emma died and not only have we survived, but we have experienced happiness and joy. Knowing that this is a message that families like us want and need to hear is something that has spurred me on to host the charity events we have done since Emma passed away.”