An Aylesbury father has asked people to donate to Helen & Douglas House for his Father’s Day gift, following the devastating death of his infant son.

Oli Marco-Kruc, who is from Aylesbury, lost one of his twin boys, Roman, in January 2020 after he was born at the start of the previous year with a rare genetic heart condition.

Roman at only a few days old, was given weeks to live, but thanks to the support of Helen & Douglas House, the youngster was able to live for longer than what his family were told.

His parents in Ellie and Oli came to stay the children’s hospice with Roman’s twin brother Harley, along with his grandmother Wendy and their nana Fran - they were all being supported by Helen & Douglas House.

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Now, 18 months on from his sad passing, Roman’s dad wants the hospice to continue doing their work they do through donations from the public.

Oli said: “It’s far too easy to let the days and weeks continue in auto pilot.

“I don’t like Father’s Day to just be about me, it’s about our family.

“Having children is a dream for so many people and the wonder of life really is a miracle.

“For me, Father’s Day is about appreciating the moments we have, and looking back on everything we have been through as a family to have our children, including pre pregnancy as well as post, and being grateful for how lucky we are.

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“Losing Roman is something we will never forget, and would never want to.

“I don’t think that losing a child is really talked about publicly which is a shame, because it’s far more common than you (certainly I used to) realise.

“Roman is still a part of our lives, and we will always make sure Harley knows he has a brother ‘in the stars.”

Becky Davis from Helen & Douglas House said: “A few months after Roman died, the UK went into lockdown.

"This immediately changed the way we care for local terminally ill children and their families.

“Many of our children and families relied on our support but were safely shielding at home.

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“By offering more medical and practical care at home, we have been able to continue to support more of our families and help avoid a crisis.

"No family should feel alone during an unthinkable crisis with their terminally ill child.”

If you would like to make a donation to Helen & Douglas House, visit www.hdh.org.uk.