**UPDATE as of 31/08/19- We are now $920 away from raising enough funds for our 3rd and final Cuddle Cot to go to a hospital in need. Sending out a huge T H A N K  Y O U  to each one of our 97 Superstar donors so far. 

We have so far donated 2 Bears of Hope Cuddle Cots to hospitals in Melbourne since our fundraiser started 11 months ago. On 13/12/18, we proudly presented the first Cuddle Cot to St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Fitzroy and then last Thursday week on 14/3/19 we donated our 2nd Cuddle Cot raised solely from a $6,000 donation by the Late Mary Banks to St John of God Hospital in Berwick. 

We sincerely appreciate your support in our fundraising initiative to support bereaved families in their time of need. Any donations kindly made, however big or small, to help us reach our 3rd Cuddle Cot target will be greatly appreciated by many people in need for many years to come.

OUR STORY

The road to parenthood was unfortunately never an easy one for us. Turning to IVF, we finally fell pregnant in mid 2012 only to have our world come crashing down around us 6 months later with the extremely premature birth of our precious firstborn, Haralambos Harrison Mihos, born at 23weeks 3days on the 11/12/12 and who sadly passed away 21 short hours later on 12/12/12.

One bittersweet memory that is unfortunately forever etched in our hearts & mind occurred during our time in hospital several hours after Harrison’s passing. A Nurse had offered to bring our baby to us rather than going to the hospital morgue. We were thankful for the offer however when our son was “delivered” in a dark black fully zipped up portable handheld pram bassinet-style freezer bag, we were shocked to say the least. The Nurse left the fully zipped up black bag at the foot of my bed and advised we could have “10-15minutes with him before he would have to go back.” Looking at my husband then back at the bag, I slowly unzipped the bag to see our precious boy laying peacefully in the outfit we had placed him in after his first & final bath we had given him just a few short hours before.

Since our tragic loss, we have come across an invaluable support resource called a Cuddle Cot, proudly supported by the charity organization, Bears of Hope. 

The Cuddle cot is a cooling system designed to fit within a small cot and lies beneath the baby. It enables bereaved families to keep their baby close and create beautiful memories spending as much unintterupted time as they wish before saying their final goodbye without the worry or distress to keep handing their baby back to hospital staff to be cooled in the traditional cooling room mortuary environment. 

A Cuddle Cot includes the unit, the moses bassinet, base and linen, embroidery and plaques displaying “lovingly donated in memory of (baby’s name)”, transport and administrative costs. 

Unfortunately the Cuddle cot was not available to us in our time of need. Many times when we replay the very few cherished moments we had with our baby boy, our only wish is that our final moments spent were not tainted by the hospital’s lack of appropriate equipment & resources after such a heartbreaking loss. 

It is our wish, in honour of our son Haralambos Harrison, and that of the many angel babies and their heartbroken families we have met along the way, that we raise these much needed funds to purchase a Bears of Hope Cuddle Cot for grieving families to use in their time of need. 

Any donation made would be greatly appreciated and help to pay it forward to the next grieving family so that they are not subjected to what we had to unfortunately experience.  If you are unable to donate at this time, please share this with others and perhaps consider bookmarking it for a time when you can.  

We truly appreciate your continued love and support of our family to ensure that our angel Harrison’s memory is never forgotten. 

With heartfelt Thanks,

George, Maria, Angel Harrison, Connor, Nina & Louis Mihos xx