HEARTBROKEN parents have set out to honour their baby boy by helping other grieving families in their darkest hour.

Mother-of-four Tina Davidson and her partner Jon Defty have been searching for something to dedicate to their son Drew, who died in hospital in August last year at 16 weeks gestation.

The couple, from Trimdon Grange, are gathering funds to purchase a cuddle cot - a cooling pad which can be placed in any type of baby bed to allow families of babies who have passed away time to grieve before their infant is taken to the mortuary.

Having only spent a precious sixty minutes with their son, the pair hope their contribution will give others the chance to have that extra time they wished they had.

Miss Davidson said: “After finding out at a scan appointment he had no longer had a heartbeat, I had to go through a week of carrying him inside me knowing that when we met him he wouldn’t be awake.

"He was the most perfect but tiny little thing weighing only 50 grams.

"We only got to spend about an hour with him as he was so tiny and delicate and that’s the last time we ever saw him.

“I think he (Drew) was a little too young for a cuddle cot but it would have been nice to have had more time with him.

"It allows the opportunity for more photos and memories."

The 39-year-old settled on fundraising for £1,600 to cover the cost of a cuddle cot after learning about it shortly before Christmas.

Once the money is raised, the cuddle cot will feature a plaque with Miss Davidson and Mr Defty’s son’s name on it.

“It has taken a while to find something that could honour his name,” she added. “I wasn’t aware of a cuddle cot until afterwards and I thought it would be nice if every hospital or funeral parlour could have something like that.

“Because it was a baby we lost, it was the right kind of thing to fundraise for.”

Since December the pair have been fundraising through raffles and the sale of coloured glass-bead bracelets which Miss Davidson makes at home.

The appeal fund currently stands at £415 but they hope to boost the total after setting their sights on taking part in a challenging 5km obstacle run in Newcastle in June.

Former nursery nurse and manager Miss Davidson and her partner will donate the cuddle cot to a local funeral service.