Heartbreak turns to relief for mum of triplets

Heartbreak has turned to relief for a campaigning mum who faced an agonising fight for one of her babies after giving birth to premature triplets.
Little Essie with fellow triplets Roman and Eva and mum Lorna and dad Steve SUS-160411-105745001Little Essie with fellow triplets Roman and Eva and mum Lorna and dad Steve SUS-160411-105745001
Little Essie with fellow triplets Roman and Eva and mum Lorna and dad Steve SUS-160411-105745001

Mum Lorna Cobbett was devastated when she learned that her tiny daughter Essie had suffered ‘catastrophic’ brain damage when she was born and was not expected to live.

But this week Lorna, 37, spoke of her thanks to the children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House who have come to the family’s rescue.

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Lorna successfully fought for NHS care so she could bring her baby girl Essie home from hospital after her birth in February - and the little tot is now reunited with her siblings Roman and Eva, and dad Steve at their home in Horsham.

But severely disabled Essie needs round the clock care and the thankful family are receiving support from Chestnut Tree House where Essie now frequently stays - and where staff have dubbed her ‘Princess Essie.’

Grateful mum Lorna paid tribute to them. “They come out and do babysitting for us, we get counselling from the chaplain, who is amazing, and they’re really good at letting us use their hydrotherapy pool – we can’t say thank you enough.”

And, in an attempt to do so, Lorna and Steve took part in the charity’s annual Littlehampton 10k fundraising run in little Essie’s name.

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And Lorna has now been named top fundraiser for the event and is planning on running it every year as part of Essie’s legacy.

“Whatever we can do for them, from a fundraising perspective, is a small amount compared to what they have done for us,” said Lorna.

Earlier, Lorna told the County Times that she “managed to laugh and cry at the same time” when she first realised she was expecting triplets.

They were born minutes apart and Lorna saw just a brief glimpse of her tiny babies before they were whisked away to a side room. “I didn’t see my babies for the rest of the day,” said Lorna.

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But it was not until midnight that Lorna was told that Essie had problems and was being taken to St George’s Hospital in London.

But now the family are together once more and are eager to raise funds for Chestnut Tree House.

l Fellow 10k runners the Horsham Joggers Learn to Run team were named top group fundraisers in the event.

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