TODAY’S post is dedicated to a special little boy called Hugo.

And to his Mummy Leigh – a blogging friend of mine, a courageous mama and a truly inspiring woman.

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Every so often in life you come across a story or a person who touches your heart and this is very much the case with Leigh and Hugo.

Whilst pregnant with Hugo, Leigh suffered from HELLP syndrome – a devastating condition and rare illness that can only occur in pregnancy.

Her only chance of survival was delivering Hugo early and so into the world he came at just 24 weeks old. Hugo fought hard for 35 days but sadly his lungs were not developed enough and he passed away.

But this is not the end of the story.

In honour of Hugo, Leigh has dedicated her incredible blog Headspace Perspective (and I don’t say this lightly) to celebrating Hugo’s life and raising awareness of HELLP syndrome, premature birth and bereavement.

She has taken her pain, devastation and heartbreaking loss and turned this into a desire to help others and to create a legacy in name of her beloved son – #HugosLegacy.

A legacy which is touching hearts, creating awareness, raising money and making changes.

A legacy which is giving parents, who find themselves in similar tragic circumstances, support, advice and empathy.

A legacy which celebrates Hugo and his (far too short) life.

Leigh’s honest and deeply moving blog posts have touched many hearts in the blogging community but also much further afield.

Many posts have moved me to tears and one post in particular that Leigh wrote about Hugo’s funeral, actually made me sob. I had to stop reading it three times to compose myself before I could finish reading it, because it was so powerful, so honest, so courageous.

THIS is how much heart and soul Leigh puts into her blog.

It takes real courage to share a part of your soul with people, to share some of your story and put it out there into the online world.

But to do this, week in, week out, as Leigh does. To share the parts of you which are broken, is simply extraordinary.

I cannot tell you how much respect and admiration I have for Leigh and her outstanding work. #HugosLegacy is changing people’s lives.

What an incredible little boy. And what an incredible Mummy and Daddy.

Today is Hugo’s 1st Birthday.

To remember Hugo and honour and celebrate his life, Leigh and her husband Martin are asking people to get #HugosLegacy trending on Twitter and to donate what they can afford to their fundraising efforts for First Touch – the charity for the neonatal unit at St George’s Hospital, where Hugo was cared for.

It is an absolute pleasure to give them my continued support. But I can’t tell you how much I’d love it, if they also got yours. Please support them and celebrate Hugo if you can. Thank you. X

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With love,

Kate

This post was written with Leigh’s blessing and the beautiful image of Leigh & Hugo was used with her kind permission.