A YOUNG mum was moved to tears after her daughter's nursery raised funds in memory of her baby son, who died from a rare disease.
Rosie Birkett from Totton was touched after youngsters from Little Gardner's Nursery in Marchwood raised more than £1,000 for Princess Anne Hospital to pay tribute to her son, Jasper.
The 23-year-old praised their 'superhero' efforts following a recent fundraising walk.
Rosie and her husband, Greg Hobbs, 34, along with their 21-month-old daughter Polly, welcomed their son to the world on Thursday, December 16.
However, he was born with Type 2 multiple congenital hypertonia seizure syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, and he passed away just days later.
To show support for the family, Polly's classmates walked one mile around the nursery grounds, on Main Road.
They raised a total of £1,386 for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) that cared for Jasper.
"It's incredible that the kids took part and raised so much money. It's lovely that they wanted to do it for Jasper."
Rosie and Greg were told about his condition during the pregnancy, but had "no idea how serious it would be".
She added: "Jasper had oversized organs, meaning, his heart grew too big and it caused him to have heart disease. His liver was enlarged as well, and his tummy was always swollen too.
"He was three days old and was put on life support. His health was very poor."
Jasper bravely fought for his life, however, he sadly died on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.
Rosie added: "Every day we had with Jasper was amazing, he was a little soldier and did a lot of the hard work but none of us could have done it without the team in the NICU.
"It goes without saying how amazing their care for Jasper was.
"We'd like to raise this money as a thank you for what they did for our family."
Speaking about the walk on April 29, nursery manager, Katie Kirby, said: "The kids were all so well-behaved and brilliant on the day.
"The children walked for one mile around the school's playing field, and they were all little superstars. We called them our superheroes.
"We are very proud of them."
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"The children walked for one mile around the school, and they were all little superstars. We called them our superheroes.
"When Jasper was in the hospital, the staff at the hospital was very nice to the family and supported them throughout."
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