“On the 26th of May 1992, my twin sister was put to bed with me, she didn’t wake up.”
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Griffith woman Natasha Firebrace and her family know first-hand the heartache of losing a child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), they lost sister and daughter Sheridan Clark when she was only two-and-a-half months old.
Friday is Red Nose Day, the major fundraiser for ‘SIDS and Kids’ a non-for-profit organisation that works towards saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth and childhood as well as supporting bereaved families who have lost a child.
In memory of her sister this year Mrs Firebrace has created an everyday hero fundraising page through the ‘SIDS and Kids’ website to raise money to go towards research and awareness.
“My dad came in that morning to wake me up to give me a bottle,” Mrs Firebrace said.
“Sheridan was gone.
“My mum still frets when my children stay with her, she doesn’t get the best sleep, there’s not a day that goes by where we don’t think of her.”
“Every year my family, we buy the products for Red Nose Day and we make donations and it’s comforting knowing that we are helping out, but this year I wanted to go one step further and do something a bit different and see if I could raise more much needed funds and awareness.”
Mrs Firebrace said the loss of her sister had haunted her family and she was committed to doing her best to spread the word and spare other families from experiencing such a loss.
“I would never want that to happen to anyone else, it’s not a nice feeling,” she said.
“I just miss her, I know we only spent two months together, but she was my twin and she should just be here.
“She should be celebrating our birthdays and seeing her nieces and nephews grow up, she should be here.
“I want to raise awareness, everyone needs to know how important it is to safely sleep a child and what you should put in their beds,” she said.
“If you put them in a certain way they can roll, and that can just be devastating.”
If you would like to donate to Mrs Firebrace’s fundraising efforts you can do so here, https://daretocare2016.everydayhero.com/au/sids-sheridan.
