Watch Holly's story
When their daughter Holly became seriously unwell, and doctors feared she would not recover, Julie and Lee knew they wanted her to be at Martin House. She died at the hospice, surrounded by her family, aged 24.
Holly, who had the complex neurological disorder Rett syndrome, had been visiting Martin House since the age of 10 alongside her family, including her brother Elliot and twin sisters Phoebe and Isobel.
“We’d decided quite a long time ago that we wanted Holly to be at Martin House. We didn’t want her to die in hospital, we wanted her to be surrounded by people that knew her and loved her,” said Julie.
“The biggest thing for me was we stayed with Holly after she died for a week. It’s just unimaginable losing a child, but then to be separated from them when they’ve died is unthinkable.”
Julie added: “There are no words that could express our gratitude for the impact Martin House had on her whole life. Just the love and the care that we’ve all had as a family, especially when she died. I feel totally indebted to them.”
The support from Martin House doesn’t end when a child dies. We were able to stay with her for a week after she died. It’s unimaginable losing a child, but to then be separated from them is unthinkable, so that week means everything to me.
Julie and Lee are backing THE BUILD so families in the future can get the specialist care and support that they and Holly received for so many years.
Lee said: “We’ve chosen to back THE BUILD because we feel it’s a necessity for families like ours for the future. It offers so much support to so many people who really need it.”
Julie said: “A lot of children now are living longer, there’s been advances in research, there’s more technology to keep them alive, so if Martin House is going to keep up, it has to grow and develop.”
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