Funds raised for neonatal bay in nurse’s memory
Family handout
The family of a woman who died in a car accident has raised money to open a new neonatal residential bay at the hospital she was due to start work at.
Lori Robertson, 21, died in 2022 after having accepted a position as a paediatric nurse in the neonatal unit at the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath.
Her parents, Helen and Mark, raised £30,000 for the new bay, which they hoped would help those whose children were being looked after by the neonatal team.
The hospital trust said the space would “support the incredible family-integrated approach that we strive for and that our staff champion every single day”.
Royal United Hospitals Bath
Mr and Mrs Robertson said: “Our beautiful daughter passed away in a car accident before she could start her dream job as a paediatric nurse in September.
“In her memory we have raised well over our aim of £21,000 for the unit she was going to join, in memory of Lori and her beautiful 21 years.
“We are so very proud with everything that Lori had achieved in her three years at university, and obtaining her place at the Bath Neonatal Unit as a paediatric nurse.”
They added: “We felt that there was a need to do something that would hold her memory at the unit, therefore we started the fundraising for the project to help babies and their parents.”
‘Nurturing family bond’
More than 800 people contributed to the fundraising effort by the family, which was then boosted to £60,000 through other supporters.
The new space will be called “The Lori Grace Room”, which the hospital trust said would complete Lori’s “unfulfilled ambition to care for babies and families needing care at the premature beginning of their lives”.
Kirstie Flood, lead nurse at the RUH Bath’s neonatal unit said: “This new parent and baby residential bay gives parents the opportunity to stay overnight with their baby, whilst their baby receives the clinical care they need on the neonatal unit.
“This offers a wealth of benefits for baby and parents, inclusive of improved brain development, growth and established feeding whilst giving maximum opportunity to build on the close and loving relationships, nurturing the family bond.”
Ms Flood added the space would also allow families to cut their costs while they stayed with their babies during treatment.
