A heartbroken West Lothian mum says she is relieved after the 'haunted castle' headstone by her baby's grave was finally removed.
Last month Vicky Mclean, 37, from Blackburn, hit out after the paint from little Kiarah Karen Mccauley's bright pink gravestone had faded dramatically and turned grey, looking like something from a horror movie.
Vicky, a mum of three, claimed that she had been waiting over a year for the gravestone at Kiarah's final resting place at Blaeberry Cemetery to be replaced by the Headstone Centre in Alva, after it was first fitted in November 2020.
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After the stone finally got changed, Vicky said she can now visit her daughter's graveside again and it is finally fit for her little princess, as the Daily Record reports.
She added: "I just feel so relieved that something is in the place of rest for my wee princess.
"It’s not exactly the way my original one was, but it’s there and it’s bright and it's princess looking for my little angel. Just how she deserves it to be.
"She didn’t deserve all of this hassle. And neither did my partner Peter or I.
"We have had to deal with all the extra stress and heartache that this situation has brought to us
"I'm happy we can now go along when we want and not feel upset with what we see."
Last month Vicky told the Daily Record she was struggling to cope seeing her baby's graveside look the way it did and pleaded with the headstone company to replace the stone.
She said: "It's been going on for months. At first they agreed to change it and were getting back to me but then it seemed like they started to ignore my messages.
"Having to chase them to fix it for so long has been draining and if I'm honest, it's starting to depress me.
"I just want my daughter's resting place finished and beautiful, the way she deserves it to be."
Vicky paid £700 to the Headstone Centre when the order was first placed and was due to pay the remaining £700 on completion.
However, they have since replaced it free of charge due to the fading of the pain and distress caused.
Little Kiarah was tragically born sleeping in December 2019.
Vicky, who is also mum to Sherelle, 18, and Jaxyn, 1, said she was shocked when she was told her baby girl's heart had stopped beating after being told she was perfectly healthy at a scan the day before.
Vicky said she was never given a reason as to why Kiarah was stillborn, with her death certificate showing it as unexplained.
Andy Butterworth, owner of Headstone Centre, Alva, said: “We have made considerate changes to the replacement headstone three times at the customer's request.
"We have also replaced the stone with a bigger one, at no extra charge, because Ms Mclean was not happy with the size of the one she had originally chosen.
"As far as the paint issue is concerned, I have no idea how or why this happened, however we have used a different paint this time around to guarantee it does not run again.
"As a family run business we strive to create the perfect headstone for our customers loved ones, but on this occasion every change involved redoing the whole stone which takes weeks to complete.
"This was quite difficult after her telling us she had no intention of paying the remaining balance of the first stone."
