VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A local couple that lost their daughter to a stillbirth nearly a decade ago will make a donation to help other grieving parents.
Heather and Demitri Wilson will donate a “Cuddle Cot” to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital’s Family Maternity Center on Tuesday, October 23 at 3 p.m.
A Cuddle Cot is a device that gently circulates cooled air around a stillborn baby (or one who dies shortly after birth) to give parents more time to spend with the child before decomposition begins to set in.
The Wilsons founded Kennedy’s Angel Gowns, a nonprofit that creates small white funeral gowns for stillborn babies and helps couples mourn during their time of need. Their daughter Kennedy was stillborn in 2009.
Heather began making the burial gowns out of old wedding dresses.
The nonprofit’s work has grown through an annual “All White Ball” and a 5K run at Virginia Wesleyan University. They are now purchasing Cuddle Cots for all Sentara hospitals that deliver babies.
Sentara Leigh Hospital, where the Wilsons had Kennedy, received the first Cuddle Cot donation earlier this year.
Related:
Second annual ‘Angel Run’ for grieving families returns to Virginia Beach
Couple donates machines so grieving parents can spend more time with their stillborn children
