Tuesday 19th October was the happiest day of my life. After five years of trying for a baby, and having IVF with ICSI we were blessed with Harry, a bundle of joy weighing in at 6lbs and 6 ounces. We were in love! From the minute he was born he was making strange grunting noises which, as first time parents we had no idea what they were – we just thought he was trying to tell us something – we weren’t wrong. Twelve hours later Harry was taken upstairs to the special care baby unit with poor feeding, hypoglycaemia and respiratory distress. An echo cardiogram was carried out on Harry the next day and we received the devastating news that he had severe obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a condition that is incurable in newborns. Harry was given a poor prognosis from the start, but amazingly after two weeks we were allowed to bring our brave little boy home, armed with copious amounts of drugs which Harry had to take daily in order to manage his condition. He was the most amazing little boy I have ever met. His extraordinary big blue eyes were captivating and I was so proud of the life I had helped to create. He was our little soldier. When he began to smile his face just melted our hearts. We also found out at four weeks of age that Harry was profoundly deaf. He was due to be fitted with blue hearing aids just days before he became an angel. At this point we hadn’t told many people of Harry’s poor prognosis, not because we were denying it, but because we were clinging on to the hope that he would fight his condition, and I was desperately trying to find some miracle stories on the internet, but to no avail. The few stories I did find were sad ones, babies taken at six hours, four days, three months – none of these babies were surviving. Still, we lived in hope that Harry would be the exception, after all he had come this far. We shared the most amazing family Christmas and new year with him, filled with love – he truly made our lives complete. On Bank Holiday Monday, just after New Years Day we decided to take Harry in to the hospital where he had been treated. He wasn’t feeding well, was sweating and becoming increasingly fractious. He was having episodes where he would struggle for breath and turn purple with his eyes just staring at you, longing to take the pain away. Several doctors came to examine him, but we were told that it was probably a bug he’d caught, but they would keep him in HDU to keep an eye on him. As a mother I instinctively knew that he didn’t have long, so we arranged a blessing with the chaplain and close family members. The nursing staff at the hospital made Harry comfortable and we spent as much time as we could holding him, stroking his hands and cheeks preparing to say goodbye. We prayed that Harry wouldn’t suffer any more than he had already. Harry passed away five days later, peacefully in his daddy’s arms after a long cuddle with his mummy. He had mustered up all his energy to open his right eye to look at us and I smiled at him and told him not to be scared and that we loved him. Harry was the most precious gift we have ever been given, and I don’t regret a moment of the heartache we have suffered. We wouldn’t have done anything differently - Harry was meant to be here, he was meant to make a massive impact on our lives. My husband and I are undergoing genetic testing to see if Harry’s condition was inherited from one of us, and if it was an isolated heart condition, or part of a bigger chromosome abnormality such as Noonan’s Syndrome. We would never have knowingly given Harry anything, but to prevent any future children suffering it is vital to know if we carry the HCM gene. I know that we will never get over losing Harry, he will be forever in our hearts and I do believe time truly does heal. I only have to look at my husband and I see Harry. We are not bitter about Harry being taken from us either – we are thankful for the time we did have with him and the time we had with him to say goodbye – something many people do not have the chance to do. He was the bravest little boy I will ever meet. The following phrase sums up Harry’s short time with us. ‘Even the smallest of footprints can leave the biggest impression on this world.’