A WOMAN from Caerphilly will run her first marathon in honour of her nephew who passed away at the age of just seven weeks.
Heidi Perkins, 23, hopes to conquer the Principality Cardiff Half Marathon while raising money for the Ty Hafan charity which she says provided "amazing" care for baby Matthew.
Matthew was born by emergency C-section in July 2023 after a midwife raised concerns about his growth.
“Throughout my sister Caroline’s pregnancy, everything looked fine,” Ms Perkins said. “But at 38 weeks, her midwife wanted to send her for more scans as the growth of her bump wasn’t looking right.
“The scans detected there was something wrong with Matthew’s heart and an emergency C-section was planned for the next couple of days."
Matthew was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, and needed to spend the next three weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University Hospital of Wales before he moved to Ty Hafan.
“They did as much as they could for him in NICU,” Ms Perkins said. “Caroline could feed him milk with a bottle and we even managed to bring him back to the farm, where we live, for a day.
“But we were told his only option was to have a heart transplant, and he was far too young for the procedure. The main problem was that he was growing and his heart couldn’t keep up.
“There wasn’t anything more that could be done for him at that point and the only option from there was to take him to Ty Hafan to make him as comfortable as possible.
“It would allow Caroline and her partner Joey to care for him with the help of the nurses on site and enable them to make memories as a family.”
Ms Perkins visited Matthew, Joey and Caroline, along with mum Joanne, dad David, and younger sister Kate.
Matthew died in August. His family held a small funeral and cremation, planting trees in the garden with his ashes and creating a memorial garden in his memory.
“It’s been really tough,” Ms Perkins said, “but the whole family is there for each other and we’re all helping each other through this difficult time.
“Ty Hafan were wonderful. They have a fantastic garden right by the sea and we’d take him out in his pushchair and walk him around the grounds, and read to him every day, making some lovely memories.
“The care they provided to Matthew was amazing and they were always on hand whenever Caroline and Joey needed them.”
Flood risk consultant Ms Perkins will take on the Cardiff half on October 6 with her boyfriend, Tom, and friends Menna and Euan.
She said: “I’ve never done a run in my life, but Matthew was a fighter and I wanted to do something that would be a huge challenge for me, to raise money in his memory.
“It’s also important to me to help Ty Hafan continue with being able to provide incredible support to families going through such a difficult time.”
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