Heartbreak gives way to hope through charity

But when it's a two-year-old child with their whole life ahead of them, it is just simply heartbreaking.

That is what Gayle Routledge had to cope with when her middle child Lewis lost his battle against the terrible disease in 2010.

The months that followed were desperately hard, but despite all the sorrow and pain, Gayle decided she couldn't just sit there and mourn.

So along with her husband Stuart, aged 48, the pair who live in Stafford came up with the idea of setting up a support website for parents who are dealing with the death of a child.

Since then A Child Of Mine, which became a registered charity in May last year, has helped hundreds of families across the country come to terms with their tragic losses.

Even actress Keeley Hawes is a fan of the group after she recorded two radio adverts for them free of charge.

Helping other families through the darkest of days was something Gayle said she felt she had to do.

"Losing Lewis was so hard and it affected the whole family," she said.

"We felt there was very little out their for us, in terms of support and advice.

"That is why we decided to set up a support website and then finally register as a charity.

"Most families who go through something like this feel like they want to give something back."

Gayle and Stuart, who works for communications giant O2, already had a daughter, four-year-old Georgia, now 10, when fit and healthy Lewis was born on September 14, 2007.

For the next eight months everything seemed perfect.

But life was to take a cruel twist when Lewis had to go in and see the doctor after his eye appeared swollen.

Gayle, who gave up her job as a sales manager when Lewis was first diagnosed, continued: "We came back from a family holiday in Florida and noticed Lewis's eye was swollen.

"The doctors thought he had an eye infection and we were sent home.

"But not long after that he woke up with a raging temperature and we took him to Stafford Hospital and then New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. The doctors spent a week trying to get his temperature down. They didn't know what was wrong with him and he was kept in all that week and then he went over to Birmingham Children's Hospital."

It was there that the Routledges were told the devastating news that there beloved eight month old son had Stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer, the worst strain of the disease.

Gayle added: "He was in and out of Birmingham Children's Hospital after that. It became our second home.

"He went through numerous operations and all different kinds of treatments and during January 2010 he seemed to get a lot better.

"But he relapsed in the July that year when the cancer returned behind his ear and after that it was just a matter of time.

"He died on July 3.

"He was riddled with cancer and just couldn't beat it.

"It was a surreal day but it was almost a release because he was no longer suffering."

Leaflets for Gayle's charity are distributed at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool and Great Ormond Street in London, which means she is helping grieving parents from across the country. Gayle, aged 42, who also has a son Jamie aged one, said 2014 was shaping up to be a busy year adding: "I'm hoping to set up two new playgroups this year, specifically for parents who have lost a child.

"It'll be a nice safe place for them to go and they won't have to deal with awkward questions from other parents that make them uncomfortable.

"Everyone will be in the same boat.

"A child dying is such a sensitive subject but it happens.

"I just hope families find comfort in our charity.

"Then it's all worth it."

• For information about the charity set up for bereaved parents visit the website here or follow Twitter @achildofmine