A mum has penned a moving book in honour of her late baby boy.
Ruth Cotter lost her beloved son Taidhg after he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called HLHS. The condition means only half of his heart had formed.
Taidhg's mum found out he had a heart defect when she was only 19 weeks pregnant.
The medical team told Ruth to "think about whether or not to continue my pregnancy as without major intervention Taidhg would not be compatible with life".
Ruth decided to continue her pregnancy and Taidhg was born on October 18th, 2021.
"Once Taidhg was born he went straight to Crumlin where he underwent his first, of what would be three, open heart surgeries at four days old. Despite Taidhg having intense medical needs he was able to be a normal little baby and do all of the normal little baby things, like smile, build up a mountain of smelly nappies, meet his dog Nova.
"He also kept his parents up with both worry and the wonder of just looking at him."
Ruth and her husband's "world crumbled" when Taidhg sadly passed away on November 25th, 2021. His family was going about a normal day when their baby boy died.
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Ruth said the pain of losing her son was "the most painful and earth-shattering thing" she ever experienced. One thing that did help her get through the heartache was writing about Taidhg's story. She penned a moving book about her little boy in his honour. The aim of the book was to give him "some permanency in the world."
Ruth penned Taidhg, the Tiger & his Little Ticker, a story about a little boy with a very special heart who has to spend time in hospital. He hates it there and finds it a very scary place, until one day he befriends a stripeless Tiger. They form an instant bond once the Tiger sees Taidhgs's scar from his heart operation, which looks just like his missing stripe.
They then set off on an adventure through their hospital.
Ruth hopes the book will help children who may have to visit hospitals.
A donation from each book sold is made to the heart centre in Crumlin Children's Hospital.
You can order your copy
here.
