MARCUS - OUR LITTLE SUPERMAN

14 Issue 1 2013| Bereavement Page
Our beautiful girl, Macie Jane Aspey was
born at Newcastle Private Hospital on 27
February 2009, it wasn’t until she was 3
days old when she went into respiratory
distress that we realised she was a very
sick baby. She was quickly transported
to John Hunter Hospital then flown by
NETS to Children’s Hospital Westmead.
The first few days went by with a blur,
so many doctors and nurses looking
after her and a lot of new terminology
that we’d never heard of. Macie’s
heart was not formed properly, she had
many issues and was diagnosed with
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. At
just 5 days old our precious little girl had
her first open heart surgery. It was a bit
of a shock for us when we first saw her
after her surgery but we knew she was
in the best care possible and trusted our
baby’s life with the experienced doctors
and nurses at CHW.
Macie didn’t recover well, she had
several complications from her heart
condition and the next few weeks were
full of ups and downs for her including
more surgeries. We were by her side the
whole time and it was heartbreaking to
see her going through these procedures
but she was a brave girl who took all
that was thrown at her.
After 4 weeks in the Intensive Care Unit,
Macie was transferred to Edgar Stephen
Ward where over the next 3 weeks she
Heart Angel Macie
grew a little bit stronger and we learned
how to care for her so we could take her
home. We both learnt how to put in her
feeding tube and feed her through it,
as she wasn’t strong enough to drink a
bottle on her own.
Finally at 7 weeks of age we were able
to bring our princess home. Looking
after Macie was a full time job, keeping
up with her Cardiologist – Dr Steve
Cooper, Paediatrician – Dr Michael
Lonergan, District Nurse – Michael
Lawler as well as weekly visits to CHW
for check ups, but as the parents of this
special girl we wouldn’t have had it any
other way – if it meant she could be at
home with us and her big brother Cale
we would do anything!
Over the 8 weeks Macie was home, we
cherished her as all parents do their
precious babies, she was probably the
Heart Angels
most photographed baby ever! And we
loved to dress her in beautiful clothes.
Cale loved helping with bath time and
her gave her the nick name “Macie
Girl” – this is how she was known to
everyone.
At 15 weeks of age Macie became very
ill and we rushed her to John Hunter
Hospital and again she was flown by
NETS to CHW. She was unable to keep
up the fight and sadly passed away, our
hopes and dreams for her were crushed.
There is no way we can explain how we
felt at that time and even now nearly
4 years later the grief is sometimes so
overwhelming. I don’t think we will ever
stop grieving for our precious little girl
but we continue to live our lives day by
day with hope and love. We have had a
third child, Tanner MJ Aspey – MJ after
his big sister Macie Jane.
We are so proud of our Macie Girl, she
was such a brave baby girl and she is
always in our thoughts and hearts.
We would like to thank HeartKids for
their support during our stay at CHW,
our time at home with our baby girl
and their continuing support since her
passing.
Rob and Laura Aspey
Rob and Laura have kindly allowed
HeartKids to use Macies’ photograph
on our memorial envelopes, a lasting
legacy from such a short life.
New HeartKid Bereavement Service
HeartKids NSW will soon be able to offer financial help for members with Heart Angels by making a number of “gap”
payments for Medicare approved bereavement counselling services (criteria apply). We hope to have this program running
shortly and will advise when it is available.
We wish to pass on our deepest sympathies to:
The Parnell family in loving memory of Theodore Alexander.
The Ryan family in loving memory of Emma Claire.
We are thinking of all families whose loved ones anniversary falls at this time including these Heart Angels......
Jake Collaros
Ayden Peychers
Willow Spring Lewis
Hamish Howard
Clara Manalo
Phillipa Raine
Andrew Bennett