In the days after the death of their baby daughter, no one would have blamed Gordon and Sarah Brown if they’d turned away from the world.
Instead, they chose to take the loss of Jennifer and work to make some good come from it.
Twenty years and millions of pounds of research later, little Lili Armstrong is proof they achieved just that.
Now one-and-a-half years old, she is alive today because of the Jennifer Brown Research Lab.
Lili arrived four months early in January 2021 weighing just 1lb 6oz and was so tiny she could fit into her mum’s hand.
In the first few weeks of her life, Lili was too weak for mum Delyth Hughes and dad Mark Armstrong, both 40, to even hold her.
Delyth, from Edinburgh, said: “At times we were living hour by hour and were told the doctors had done all they could and it was up to Lili whether she made it.
“It was a rollercoaster as we willed her to keep fighting and she did.”
Research from the JBRL on the right oxygen levels for incubators helped doctors to build up Lili’s strength and in April last year she got home on oxygen.
Dad Marc, a solicitor, said: “They told us she would probably need oxygen for a year but she was off it after three months. Lili is flying. She is a healthy and joyful baby and is meeting her development milestones.”
Delyth and Marc are delighted to be part of Theirworld’s Edinburgh Birth Cohort study.
Delyth said: “Taking part in the study was a no brainer. Every day our brave and feisty Lili is doing well, we feel lucky, and we would want whatever doctors can learn from her to be available for other families.”
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