DOTING DAD SKYDIVE BRINGS

A doting Dad said he “felt closer” to his baby son when he completed a daring skydive in his memory.

Closer To Ellis

Baby Ellis Jay Wright sadly passed away after spending time on James Cook Hospital’s neonatal unit, after his parents were told he had a condition affecting one in every 75,000 babies called citrullinemia.

Writing on her JustGiving page, where donations stood at almost £12,500 at the time of writing, his mum Shauna explained the condition meant Ellis couldn’t get rid of urine and suffered effects such as being unable to feed, vomiting, constantly sleeping with very little movement, seizures and eventually, being unable to breathe on his own.

He passed away on July 25 2022, surrounded by his loving family, after the doctors caring for him had done “everything they could”.

Shauna, 29, from Hartlepool, says the devastating experience is still “very raw”, but she and her partner Danny Wright and their family and friends were determined to do something special in his memory.

“It was my partner’s idea to do a skydive first and my Mum [Tracey] had always wanted to do a skydive, so initially, it was just the two of them doing it,” says Shauna, who adds she has a “fear of heights,” but is hoping to pluck up the courage to do it herself one day.

“In the end, we had 13 people doing it in memory of Ellis, as the word just got around and friends and their partners decided to join in.

“It’s just lovely to see how special Ellis was, not only to me and Danny, but to everyone else as well - he touched everyone else’s heart.”

Funds raised by Shauna, Danny and their friends and family will be donated to the James Cook Hospital neonatal unit in Ellis’ memory.

“They did their best in the way they cared for him,” said Shauna, who praised Dr Skeath, Jenna, Laura and Kirsty on the unit in particular.

“It means the absolute world that people care about him and I’m so appreciative of all the people who took part in the skydive or donated –some people raised thousands!”

Speaking of the two consecutive Sundays where people skydived in Ellis’ memory, Shauna said they were “emotional” but also happy events.

“People were asking why we were doing it so when we told people what it was for, it was emotional,” she said.

“Danny said he was closer to Ellis up there than he is when he was down here – and that’s what’s making me want to do it myself eventually.”

For more information or to make a donation in Ellis’ memory, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shauna-elstob