Cambridge parents raise more than £12,000 in memory of baby son

The bereaved parents of a premature baby boy are raising money for the neonatal intensive care unit at the Rosie Hospital who they say cared for their son “like family”.

Ari Ostrowski-Tomic was born 24 weeks into pregnancy weighing just 1lb 4.5oz after his mother’s waters broke suddenly. He was rushed to the NICU where he spent the next two months and three days before losing his battle for life.

Now mum Agata and dad Oggi Tomic want to raise funds for the unit where their son was looked after to help support other families going through the same ordeal. They have set up a Just Giving page, which has already raised £12,000.

Oggi, a film director and photographer, said: “The staff at the NICU were amazing. I’m not going to say they were superheroes. Instead, I want to say they are like family to the parents who go through this.

“I know those doctors and nurses have their own struggles and challenges, but they seem to leave it all behind and give 100 per cent of themselves to babies that might not make it. They always give each baby the same level of special care.

“We were overwhelmed by how much love and concern they showed for Ari and even though his story didn’t end happily they never gave up on him. They helped create so many happy moments for us as a family, with his sister Ivani, where we could give our son cuddles and spend time with him.

“The care they gave him was incredible – staff would arrive several hours early for their shifts just to spend time with him.”

Ari was born on May 18 after his mum, Agata, had suffered with weeks of bleeding.

Even so, it was not known that she would go into early abour and discovering that her waters had broken was a terrible shock.

“Everything happened so fast,” says Oggi. “We had been having regular checks and he was always healthy. He was growing. He met all his milestones with weights and measurements. His heart was fine. There was no concern about him whatsoever.

“Then Aggi started suffering pains and we had to go to hospital where they said she was in labour. He was born a couple of minutes past midnight and ended up straightaway in the neonatal intensive care unit. I tried to keep as strong as I could but no matter how macho you think you are, and I’m not, it just breaks you even when you think you’re unbreakable. From that night, we spent every single day of those two months and three days going in and out of hospital.”

They soon realised that families who didn’t live locally struggled to find time to get food and toiletries and items that suddenly became vitally important, such as sets to make plaster-cast keepsakes of children’s hands and feet.

“When you don’t know if your child will live for the next hour you don’t have time to get these things,” says Oggi.

“I hope we can raise enough money to help families in the unit to have the things they need, such as children’s books for each cot so parents can read to their baby.”

He added that Ari had been “resilient” and that his name meant lion warrior.

“Even though Ari faced so many challenges, he managed to surprise the medical team on three separate occasions where he’d turn the corner despite them not giving him much chance. He was a real fighter and went through a journey of numerous challenges,” says Oggi.

“Sadly, his last brain scan showed that all the collective difficulties he faced since birth were just too much for his little body. His brain ended up severely damaged. There was nothing else that the medical team could have done for him.”

Oggi said he also wanted parents to know that all babies’ lives are cherished in the unit and for those that don’t go home there are still happy times. He added: “We took so much hope from stories on the wall of the unit about babies who survived. I want Ari’s story to be a comfort to people too. He was our son and we will always love him and we have happy memories from NICU.”

To donate in memory of baby Ari, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ari-william-ostrowski-tomic