Parents donate equipment to hospital where Rosie May spent her last hours

The parents of murdered 10-year-old Rosie May Storrie have donated medical equipment to a hospital where she was treated in the final hours of her life.

Graham and Mary, of Bottesford, remember vividly the 48 hours Rosie May spent in intensive care at Sheffield Children’s Hospital after being admitted just after Christmas in 2003.

The couple have continued their relationship with many of the staff who still work there and they have provided £30,000 worth of equipment over recent years, with the latest contribution being oxygen therapy machines costing £10,000.

The machines, for babies and older children, will help them breathe properly when they no longer need ventilation apparatus.

Mr Storrie said the fundraising for the hospital was a way of them giving something back for the expert treatment their daughter received: “When Rosie May was admitted on December 28, it was completely horrific and surreal.

“But we are extremely grateful for the time we got with Rosie May – we got those hours with her. It gave us some closure.”

Mrs Storrie said: “Rosie May was in hospital for 48 hours and those 48 hours felt like a lifetime. You are awake all of that time, of course, and you build intense relationships with people working there.

“When parents lose a child like we did you get a feeling that you want to do something to help the people who have helped you and other families in the same position.”

The Storries have now provided £30,000 worth of equipment for the hospital in recent years, including specialist beds, an electric cooling blanket and a hand-carved cot for the mortuary.

The latest donation came from proceeds from the second of four treks across the Sahara Desert their Rosie May Memorial Fund charity has organised.

Mrs Storrie said: “The equipment is for when children are being weaned off a ventilator when they can’t quite breathe independently and also when they are in transit.

“It doesn’t always occur to most parents that when their child is in intensive care surrounded by lots of sophisticated equipment that some of it may not have been provided by the NHS.

“If parents of other children see that equipment like this is desperately needed it might encourage them to help provide some of it as well.”

Among the hospital staff who thanked the Storries for their efforts was Jenny Longden, an advanced nurse practitioner, who helped look after Rosie May nearly 12 years ago.

Angela Dunn, projects officer at The Children’s Hospital Charity which co-ordinates fundraising, said: “The connection between Mary and Graham and the staff who looked after Rosie May is so clear to see.

“We are so grateful for their continued support and full of admiration to turn such a terrible situation into something positive for other families.”