Local Toowoomba dad Billy Drury is turning tragedy into hope for new babies under the care of Toowoomba Hospital’s Special Care Nursery by raising funds and awareness for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in memory of his daughter Bella, who passed away in 2017.

In Australia nine children pass away suddenly or unexpectedly every day. Through his event Something About Bella on Saturday 23 March, Billy is hoping to contribute to changing this statistic and bringing much-needed equipment to the Special Care Nursery.

Billy Drury said that the time he got to spend with his daughter was thanks to the amazing work of the doctors and staff of the Toowoomba Hospital Special Care Nursery.“My beautiful daughter Bella was born eight weeks premature and sadly passed away four weeks into her life. Those four weeks were the best of my life and I remember hearing so often from family and staff that ‘there’s something so special about Bella’,” he said. “I honestly believe that the time I did get to spend with my beautiful little girl was thanks to the amazing work of all the staff at the Toowoomba Hospital Special Care Nursery. It’s for this reason I’m holding a special fundraiser, ‘Something About Bella’, to celebrate my late daughter’s birthday and raise money to assist staff to continue to do the amazing work they do every day.”

Toowoomba Hospital Foundation CEO Alison Kennedy said it has been wonderful to see the community put their support behind Billy. “I couldn’t possibly imagine the heartbreak Billy went through at the loss of his daughter and we feel so honoured that he has chosen our charity to help keep her memory alive,” she said.

All funds raised from Something About Bella will go towards the purchase of a Diaphanoscope which will allow staff to easily search for blood vessels and identify structures filled with air or liquid deep under the skin surface in premature babies.

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