'It is still unbelievable that someone you didn’t know would want to do that for you and your baby, it is just so lovely'
Caring Garda Edel Dugdale cycled 99kms to raise funds for Féileacáin - the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association - after a heartbreaking encounter at a checkpoint. She was greeted by the overwhelmed couple who inspired her to take on the fundraising challenge that raised over €15,000
The heartbroken parents of a baby girl who lost their baby just fifteen weeks into pregnancy have come forward to thank a local Garda who cycled 99km through nine villages in full uniform last Sunday in honour of their daughter.
Nickita and Anthony Farrelly’s daughter Molly was born on April 18th when Nickita was just 15 weeks pregnant and tragically passed away leaving the couple devastated.
They were shocked to discover that local Garda Edel Dugdale had been inspired to organise an event to raise money for a charity that offers support to families affected by the death of a baby having stopped the family at a checkpoint during lockdown as they carried their little girl’s coffin to her resting place.
So touched by the encounter the caring garda came up with the idea for ‘Trim's Emergency Services 999 Challenge’ that saw frontline workers from the area take on the 99km run through rural communities in the area.
The Garda originally from Delvin who is attached to the community policing unit at Trim Garda Station did not know the identity of the family and it was only after Nickita (34) and Anthony (36), had read the story in the Meath Chronicle that they contacted Edel to explain that they were the family she had met.
Trim Garda Station and Trim Fire Station took part in the event and have so far raised €15,000 for Féileacáin (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland – SANDAI).
Speaking about her harrowing loss, Nickita said: “Molly was my second baby, we had our twelve-week scan and were told everything was perfect like everyone else then, you presume you are in the safe zone and everything is ok.
“A couple of weeks later, it was Good Friday and we were all at home and I started to get pains and I said to Anthony I don’t think that this is right so I rang the hospital and they said to keep an eye on them and if they get worse to come in.
“I went to bed about 11pm and woke Anthony up at 12 o’clock and I knew something was very wrong.
“We arrived into the Coombe at 1.30am, they scanned me at 2am and the baby still had a heartbeat and they said that it was obvious that I was in early labour and if the labour progressed she wouldn’t survive and they told me what to expect.
“It was horrific because Anthony wasn’t allowed in with me for any of it, I had to give birth to her alone.
“We were only allowed ten people at the funeral so it was literally just immediate family, we had no mass, it was literally just my house to the graveyard, the priest said a few prayers at the grave, we went back to the house and it was like nothing had happened, it was horrible.
“Some days I think I’m ok and some days I just find myself crying saying why me, why us, why her.
“I just have to learn to live with this the rest of my life, to live without her.
“She is classed as a second trimester miscarriage so even the word miscarriage when they were saying that to me in the hospital I was thinking I didn’t have a miscarriage I had a baby.
“Technically you can’t call her a still-born because in Ireland you have to be over 24 weeks to be considered a still born.
“We can’t even get a birth cert for her. She was here, she did exist, she was only here for two days but she was still our baby.”
The grieving Trim woman, also mum to two-year-old Adam says she and husband Anthony were ‘so grateful’ for Edel’s kind gesture.
“We just couldn’t believe it. Edel was a total stranger to us, she didn’t know us and was going out of her way to organise all of this.
“It is still unbelievable that someone you didn’t know would want to do that for you and your baby, it is just so lovely.
“When you lose a baby a lot of people don’t know what to say or are afraid of upsetting you so they just totally ignore you, which is horrible.
“The fact that this girl who never knew us, did this for us is unbelievable.”
In a heartwarming turn of events, Anthony cycled part of the route in solidarity with the Trim Garda and both him and Nickita thanked her for ‘not forgetting their daughter’.
Speaking about the event Edel said: “It was brilliant, from 6am when we started in Enfield there were families out with Fèileacàin teddy bears and bereaved families who have gone through the service.
“It was just amazing the support was fantastic, we couldn’t have asked for better.
Edel describes the incident that inspired her to organise this charity event.
“When I met Anthony and Nickita at the checkpoint, it hit me, the loneliness and isolation with Covid that they must have felt and it was through that that I did some research to see what services are out there and that’s when I came across Fèileacàin.
“At the time I didn’t know that family from Adam but it really just pulled at my heart strings.”
Not only did the Trim garda take on the challenge of cycling 99km, she also chose to be suited and booted in full uniform on her journey as she explains.
“Just because I do know families who go through the services of Fèileacàin have such challenges to overcome, the least that I could do was to take on some extra little challenge to raise funds so that it wasn’t just an easy process for us to do.
“I was so emotional when we turned the corner on to Castle Street and all the 999 frontline service was behind me.
“The fire service had gotten into their full gear with their Fèileacàin t-shirts on them and ran the last couple of hundred yards with me.
“The town had come out in force, there were balloons and purple t-shirts everywhere. It was so overwhelming I couldn’t believe it that Trim community would pull together so much for the Farrelly family.
“Nickita and her son Adam, Nickita’s parents and Anthony’s parents were all at the finish line and had a lovely bunch of flowers for me. I couldn’t get over the support.”