| Location | Widnes |
| Age | 0 |
| Cause of Death | Premature Birth |
| Date of Birth | 24/03/2008 |
| Date of Death | 24/03/2008 |
| Visitors | 6,766 since 27/04/2008 |
| Creator |
Evan Thomas Whittaker
Born and passed away on 24th march 2008 aged 18 1/2 hours.
Beautiful son of Paula & Steven Whittaker.
Baby Evan died as a result of complications during pregnancy. The membranes surrounding him ruptured
at only 18 weeks into the pregnancy. The doctors said he would be born within 72 hours, and even if
he wasn't born in that time he would almost certainly catch an infection which could kill mum and
baby.If this didn't happen and he lived they said he would not continue to grow properly,his lungs
wouldn't grow and he would have deformities of his limbs due to not having enough fluid to move
around in. We were sent home to wait for him to die.
However what the Dr's didn't know was that Evan was a little fighter who didn't do as he was told!
Evan wasn't born at 18 weeks, he did continue to grow, he never caught an infection, and he moved
about all the time!
Evan continued to thrive inside his mum until he was born prematurely at 29weeks on Easter Monday
weighing 2lb 9oz. He was a beautiful,perfect baby,including his limbs, and continued to fight all
day. Unfortunately though his little lungs were underdeveloped due to the loss of fluid so early
on,and after 18 1/2 hours he could fight no more. Evan went peacefully to sleep in his mummy and
daddy's arms.
Although we are heartbroken and miss our little man like mad, we are so proud of the way he
continued to fight and always will be. We are glad we had the chance to cuddle and kiss Evan, and
tell him how much we loved him-something we couldn't have done if he hadn't fought so hard in trying
to prove the Dr's wrong.
God bless sweet pea,love & miss you forever, love mummy and daddy x x x x x
Also love to our little angel baby, who grew wings on 8th March 2007 at 8weeks gestation,&our
tiniest angel, lost september 2008 at 4 1/2 weeks gestation. Love you both angels,play nicely with
your brother Evan, we will all meet again one day x x x x
Our letter to Evan from mummy & daddy.
Darling Evan, it is difficult to know where to begin talking about you, so I guess a good place to
start is at the very beginning of your life.
You were the baby your mummy and daddy desperately wanted, and after months of fertility treatment,
we finally found out we were expecting you on a beautiful Saturday morning in September. We really
couldn’t believe we were lucky enough to be having you, infact mummy sent daddy out to buy five
more tests just to make sure it was true!
But true it was, and we were so happy, although those first few weeks of your life weren’t easy
and you gave us quite a few scares. We prayed every day that you would carry on growing, and sure
enough every week when we would see you on scan you kept on getting bigger. It made us so happy to
see you waving at us, and we loved you so much from the minute we knew you were growing inside
mummy.
As you got bigger, it was obvious you had your own little personality already-lets just say you were
very determined! You liked to stay up late, and get up late too- and so help anyone who disturbed
your sleep!! You made it quite clear you didn’t like to be woken up early by the neighbours dogs,
or the crying babies in the hospital. This was obvious by the force of your kicks- you were clearly
unhappy with the noise! You also let the midwives and the doctors know that you didn’t like to be
poked and prodded by kicking them hard, and constantly hiding from them when they tried to listen to
your heartbeat on the monitors. You even earned yourself the nickname ‘posh spice’ in the
hospital because of this! You seemed to like chocolate, cheesy wotsits and carrot cake, but you
weren’t so keen on rhubarb or red meat- mummy learned about this very quickly! You also liked to
kick your little feet to Kylie Minogue! Despite your short stay on earth with us, we feel we knew
you so well already.
The name Evan means ‘young warrior’ in Celtic, and Evan that is so true of you. You battled on
inside your mummy for months and you continued to defy the odds of the doctors who first treated
you. They said you wouldn’t make it past 18 weeks- you hung on until 29 weeks. They said you
wouldn’t grow properly- you were the perfect size for your age.
They said you wouldn’t be able to move around much inside your mummy, especially after the steroid
injections- you were never still, particularly after the steroids! Infact you moved around so much
you earned yourself another nickname amongst your family- Dora the explorer!
It should be pointed out here that the doctors also said you were a girl-again you proved them
wrong!
You continued to battle on, and your determination meant that you got to live outside of mummy for
18 ½ hours when you decided it was time to come out on Easter Monday. The doctors were surprised by
you again- you put up such a fight and were so strong considering the size of your tiny lungs and
your age. Even then you still managed to fight with the doctors and nurses, pulling at your
breathing tubes.
You continued to fight all the odds for 18 ½ hours Evan, but sadly your little body was just too
small and too tired from all the fighting you had had to do for the past 29 weeks. You managed to
hang on until mummy was well enough from her operation to come and be with you and daddy, and then
you went peacefully to sleep in our arms.
Although our hearts are broken Evan, and we cannot understand why you weren’t allowed to stay with
us, we want you to know that we are so, so proud of you beautiful boy. We wish you could have stayed
with us for a lot longer, but we will always be grateful for the precious time we had with you,
before and after your birth. Having you for that short time was worth all of the heartache and
stress- you made us a mummy and daddy, and we will always be proud of the way that you fought so
hard.
The name Evan also means ‘God’s precious gift’, and you were the most beautiful, precious gift
we have ever known. We will love you and miss you forever, you will always be in our hearts and we
will never forget you.
In the words of the song that mummy and daddy would always sing to you from the moment we knew you
existed Evan, you are our sunshine, our only sunshine, you make us happy when skies are grey, and
you’ll never know just how much we love you. Sleep tight our precious angel with your big brother
or sister, until we all meet again you will be our bright sunshine in the sky.
Love you always, mummy and daddy x x x x
For our special baby boy x x x
Hello gorgeous boy! Sorry i've not wrote on here for so long, but you know i talk to you every day. Love you so much baby boy, and i'll never stop missing you.I'll make sure your baby sister knows all about her brave & special big brother when she is born darling, we love you & miss you forever, mummy, daddy & baby Ella x x x
To our beautiful Nephew, EVAN
Hello Evan, sending you all our love, as always.
I know you know how amazing your mummy is but i just wanted to tell you myself how much we are in awe of her..she is so determined and brave..as is your daddy too. Mummy is doing well but has sad days and always will, she misses you so much..but you know that already don't you sweetheart.
We love and miss you so much and wish you could have stayed here with all of us..but you are all around us every day in pictures and in our memories and especially in our hearts.
We will come and visit your special garden soon..i have a little bear for you with your initial on it..i'm sure you will like it.
Loving you forever xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Just popping in to look at your beautiful face sweetpea.....your photo's are everywhere, but especialy in my heart & mind. I always see your beautiful face when i close my eyes, me & daddy love you always. Night night my sweetpea, missing you all the world x x x
Moving words
I cam eto light a candle for gorgeous Evan, and to send floaty love to him x Paula hun your words are so so lovely, i know how much you hurt, well i know u know i do x you are a very brave lady a true inspiration to many xxx Love you sweetie
Evan x i hope your playing with my Ashleigh, Morgan and Angel xxxx
loving mummy
Paula, you will always feel like you did something wrong because thats a mother's instinct, but you did nothing wrong, you did everything right and could not love Evan any more deeply than you already do. I think that writng down your thoughts in the tribute you have wrote will help you, you have needed to do that. You should feel very,very proud of yourself for getting through like you and Ste have, both your determination and belief is an inspiration to everyone who knows you.
Your love for Evan is so obvious for all to see and Evan will love you always.
We love you and Ste very much and will always be right here for you both.
Love to Evan and our two beautiful nephews/nieces, always.
Memories of losing you.....
Sweetpea, mummy can't stop thinking of the time you left today.....
mummy was sat giving you cuddles through the holes in your incubator, singing to you and telling you i loved you. Daddy had gone back to the ward for the camera & to sort some stuff. I was telling you to keep strong, that i was so proud of you for being so strong & please keep fighting. Then your little heartbeat dropped so low. All the dr's & nurses came running to you & started to try & resuscitate you & get your heart beating properly again. One of the nurses kept asking me where daddy was so they could go & get him, but i couldn't answer i was crying so much....it hurt my stomach i was crying that hard & i thought my stitches would burst. I thought it was my fault, you had been ok until i started to talk to you & cuddle you, you had been fighting hard.
Eventually they found your daddy & brought him back. They were still trying to get your heart going again but it just wasn't working. I begged them to help you, to give you more drugs, but they said you had had every drug possible. There was nothing they could do as your lungs were too small & your little heart & kidneys weren't working, the strain was too much for your body to take. All they could do was to keep trying cpr to see if it worked, but they said it was unlikely. So mummy had to make the hardest decision ever...i had to let them stop. I couldn't stand to watch them do that to your tiny body anymore, not for no reason, when it wouldn't work. I asked them to stop & take out your tubes so i could hold you for the 1st & last time while you were still alive. Daddy agreed. They quickly took the tube out of your throat, wrapped you in the little blanket we bought you, & gave you to me. Your little face seemed to tighten for a minute, like a little grimace. Then a little smile seemed to appear, & you passed away in my arms. Then me & daddy took you to a quiet room where we cuddled you loads & bathed & dressed you. Then all your family came to meet you, such a devastating time but i remeber being so proud of you baby.
I cried so much that night, & ever since, i hated myself for letting them stop for a long time. I also was convinced i killed you by cuddling you too much & talking to you. But the dr's say that you probably waited until you felt safe enough in your mummy's arms to let go, that's why you went when we were finally alone & having cuddles. That makes sense, i hope it's true. And i know in my heart it was right to stop all of your pain, you were suffering so much, even if it meant i would suffer for the rest of my life....you were & always will be my number 1 priority sweetpea. I would have died to protect you, but i couldn't. But i always did my best for you, & i will always love you...your forever in my heart & soul darling boy x x x x x
Hi baby, it has been nearly a year since i last cuddled you, since i lay you down for your forever sleep. On wednesday i wont have been able to hold,touch or kiss you for a whole year. It breaks my heart...i love you & miss you sunshine,you are always in mummy's heart & mind x x x
Happy 1st Birthday!!
Well little man you are 1 already!! I hope you have been looking down to see all your Birthday surprises! Hope you liked your balloon, flowers and teddy we brought you on Sunday. I'm going to come and see all your birthday treats tomorrow, as I was working today! So did you see all your candles? See how much you are missed? Katie and Lucie lit one each and it's been burning all day. Did you catch the kisses Katie blew up to you on her way to nursery? Hope so! Thank you for the little white feather- again!! xxx We love and miss you sweetheart xxxxx
Happy Birthday , you beautiful little angel. Play safe in the clouds on your first birthday little man.
Loads and loads of love Jayde xxxxxxx
Happy 1st Birthday!!
Our little man is growing so fast up in heaven! Happy birthday sweetie, we love & miss you loads. Hope you enjoyed your party in the sky, & you like your balloons, flowers & cake!
So many people have sent you birthday messages today Evan....that shows just how special you are. Love you all the world, mummy & daddy x x xx
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