A BRAVE couple, who lost their three-month-old baby to a rare muscle condition, have helped launch a memory tree to remember loved ones this Christmas.

Tracey and John Chad, from Darlington, said they were honoured to be asked by Butterwick House Children's Hospice to hang the first message on their tree of remembrance.

The couple, along with their two children, Andrew, nine, and Nathan, three, left a message for their first-born son, Matthew, who died in 2004.

Despite being born healthy in Darlington Memorial Hospital, he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease causing weakness of the muscles, when he was 11-weeks-old. He died two weeks later.

Mrs Chad said: "For it all to happen so quickly made it very difficult, but we spent a week in the hospice and they were absolutely brilliant - that support is still there for us now.

“When Matthew was born, everything was fine. As he got older we saw he wasn’t doing the things he should be.

“When he was diagnosed the doctor said there was nothing they could do.

“It still hurts now – we will never get over it. But as long as we do something in his memory it keeps his memory alive for people who have never met him.

“It also creates a positive and gives something back to the hospice.”

Matthew died on September 22, 2004, but the family are still regular visitors to the hospice and have raised thousands of pounds to support its work.

Mrs Chad said: “I cannot stress enough how good the hospice is.

“People expect hospices to be a sad place, but it isn’t. It is a very relaxed place and the staff try to make everyone feel very welcome and supported.”

Families can leave messages on the tree of remembrance and donations to Butterwick House Hospice at Paddock Farm Nursery and Water Gardens, Dalton Gates, near Darlington.

Jackie Firth, of Butterwick Hospice Care, said: “Christmas is a time for families to come together and celebrate, so it is often a difficult time for those of us who cannot be with the ones we love.

“The tree of remembrance campaign offers local people the opportunity to place a message to a loved one on the tree for everyone to see and also offers them the opportunity to leave a donation towards the care of others who are having a difficult time this Christmas.”