Holly’s mum backs Christmas appeal for caring charity
A BEREAVED Dumfries mum is backing the Children’s Hospice’s Across Scotland (CHAS)’s Christmas 2025 appeal in memory of her beloved daughter Holly.
Stevi Robertson knows personally how valuable CHAS’s support can be as the charity cared for her daughter during the last year of her life.
Now The Christmas That Couldn’t Wait Appeal aims to bring moments of joy and comfort to other children and their families, at a time when they need it most.
Back in 2011 Stevi was expecting twin girls when at 36 weeks she had an emergency c-section.
“When the time came to deliver the twins there were very serious complications,” she recalled. “Holly was starved of oxygen for 15 minutes. Her sister Becca was starved too but not for as long.
“Both girls were very poorly, and we couldn’t see or hold either of them.”
Hours after birth Holly was taken to Glasgow for specialist care and a day later a worried Stevi discharged herself from DGRI to be there too.
She said: “We were told Holly was making no effort to breathe on her own and her liver and her kidneys and everything else were shutting down. We were devastated.”
The difficult decision was made to switch off her life-support. Stevi added: “We were told she would pass away very quickly but our beautiful, brave little girl obviously had other ideas. Each day Holly kept astounding all the medical staff as she continued her incredible battle to stay with us.”
Holly was eventually brought back to Dumfries for comfort care and to be with her sister, but was not expected to survive for long.
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The family, who also had an older child Emily, cherished every second with the twins and prepared to say goodbye to Holly.
However, amazingly, Holly continued to improve despite an MRI revealing she had a brain injury not compatible with life. Her condition was diagnosed as spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy with epilepsy.
Stevi said: “The prognosis was unclear but it was very unlikely she would live past two and she would never be able to walk, talk, eat - all the things no parent ever wants to hear about their child.”
But Holly once again defied the odds, passing her second birthday, feeding, smiling and even learning some sign language to communicate with her family.
Aged three, she managed to say mum, melting Stevi’s heart.
“It was a very special moment,” she said. “Holly was showing us she was capable of a lot more than anyone could have ever imagined.”
It was decided that everything Emily and Becca did, their sister would do too, from horse-riding to a magical trip to Disney.
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In 2019 Holly’s health began to deteriorate and she started spending more time in hospital. Doctors didn’t expect her to recover.
They visited Robin House children’s hospice in Balloch for the first time in December 2019, praising staff for a warm welcome and thoughtful touches.
That respite allowed them to be a family and spend time with all the girls. “Basically, we could just be mum and dad,” said Stevi.
They returned monthly, for five days at a time, giving them a ‘proper break’ and the chance to get to know the staff well.
By 2020 she said: “It was starting to feel like a home from home to our girls and there was always something going on like messy play, arts and crafts and activities.”
Later that year, it became apparent that Holly needed end-of-life care and CHAS worked with the region’s community hospital team to ensure there was 24-hour nursing care at the family home in Dumfries.
Remembering that time, Stevi said: “The CHAS nurses made everything feel normal and natural. They would just come in and chat to Holly and somehow kept things upbeat. They were so calm and experienced.
“Holly died on 29th October 2020 holding my hand. She was surrounded by her family and so much love.
“I will always be grateful to CHAS for providing this care to our family and empowering us to be able to deal with everything despite our hearts being completely broken.
“CHAS was there for Holly and my family in so many ways but the most important thing they provided for us was a good death for our beautiful daughter. By that, I mean a death with no regrets.
“For all Holly had a lot of pain and she was in discomfort a lot of the time, there was also a lot of happiness in her life - and so many times CHAS played a key part in that.”
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