Published on: 5 December 2023
The donation to the hospital, via The Luca Foundation, has been made by Safiyya Vorajee in memory of her daughter Azaylia. Who passed away at 8 months old in hospital in 2021.
The Luca Foundation provide and fix cuddle cots to hospitals around the country to allow parents to spend more time with their babies after they have passed away.
Safiyya said: “It’s a proud moment to be donating this cot to the Luca Foundation on behalf of Azaylia and I know she will be looking down on this very proud of this moment.
“I would like everyone to know that these cots will ensure that your baby is wrapped in love. This is a gift from parents to parents which will help to support them when they need it the most.”
A Cuddle cot is a small, portable, lightweight unit that enables families experiencing the loss of their baby at any age or gestation to spend more time with them and enables more time to create memories, often up to a week.
Sharon Luca-Chatha, Founder of the Luca Foundation, shared the importance of the donation: “Luca was born asleep in 2012 and we lost a lot of time which we could have spent with him due to not having something like this in place.
“This personal donation from Safiyya in memory of Azaylia will help keep families together for longer, so they don’t have to experience what we went through.”
It is planned that the new cuddle cot will be used across the hospital wherever there is a need for it as it is fully mobile.
Lead Chaplain for George Eliot Hospital said: “This generous donation will help to support parents across the Trust, we would like to offer a huge thank you to Safiyyah and the Luca Foundation for this valuable piece of equipment.
“This will enable to support parents who experience a terrible loss and provide comfort and togetherness at what is an incredibly distressing time.”