{"id":94882,"date":"2025-05-12T08:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/94882\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T08:37:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:37:09","slug":"liverpool-mum-pays-emotional-tribute-to-claire-house-nurses-on-international-nurses-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/94882\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool mum pays emotional tribute to Claire House nurses on International Nurses Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Liverpool mum has paid tribute to the nurses at Claire House Children\u2019s Hospice for the care and compassion they\u2019ve shown her family\u2014both in heartbreak and in hope.<\/p>\n<p>Zoey Horrocks, from West Derby, is marking International Nurses Day by celebrating the incredible support she\u2019s received from Claire House\u2014first with her son Liam, who sadly passed away aged seven, and now with her two-year-old daughter Harlow.<\/p>\n<p>She said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarlow was born prematurely at 31 weeks. At the time, they thought she was okay.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe then found out she had congenital heart defects and had hypoplastic right lung. She also wasn\u2019t tolerating her feeds. And even after she started being fed through an IV, she wasn\u2019t thriving or developing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harlow has faced a series of serious medical challenges since birth and has spent much of her life in and out of hospital. Doctors warned Zoey to prepare for the worst\u2014while holding onto hope for the best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were told by one of the respiratory doctors that there was not much more they could do for Harlow from a breathing perspective and that we should think about planning for the worst while hoping for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/HarlowLaura2-scaled-e1747037733937.jpg\" alt=\"Harlow&amp;Laura - Claire House\" class=\"wp-image-219815\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It was a familiar and frightening path for Zoey. Just a few years earlier, she\u2019d walked a similar journey with her son Liam. Claire House was by her side then\u2014and has never left.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire House supported us throughout Liam\u2019s condition and especially while he was in hospital,\u201d explains Zoey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven when he wasn\u2019t well enough to come home, they enabled us to leave the ward and come to its West Derby site for his birthday. It was truly special.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I will never be able to thank them enough for the support they gave once Liam passed away. The team supported me through the whole funeral process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey did loads of memory making with us, getting Liam\u2019s handprints and making necklaces. And even after the funeral, they have stayed in touch and remembered every key date.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Laura Sephton, a nurse from the Claire House Rapid Response team, has become a pillar of support for Zoey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaura got me through some of my darkest days,\u201d shares Zoey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was always there for me, whether I needed to rant or just have someone to listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThanks to Claire House, we\u2019ve had time at home. When Harlow is at the hospice, they take care of all her medical needs so I can just be a mum. That\u2019s a gift you can\u2019t put a price on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zoey\u2019s son Liam spent more than a year in hospital.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"1000\" data-id=\"219817\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Harlow5-scaled-e1747037679786.jpg\" alt=\"Harlow - Claire House\" class=\"wp-image-219817\"\/><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"1000\" data-id=\"219814\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/HarlowLaura-scaled-e1747037723120.jpg\" alt=\"Harlow&amp;Laura - Claire House\" class=\"wp-image-219814\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was hard that sometimes Liam did not want to go home as he thought hospital was home. I did not want that for Harlow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing in hospital is really tough for me because it brings back such bad memories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harlow has also taken part in the Claire House Baby Group at both the Liverpool and Wirral sites, a space where children with complex needs\u2014and their parents\u2014can play, laugh, and connect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t take Harlow to mainstream baby groups, but Claire House gave us somewhere safe and welcoming. Harlow loved it\u2014she\u2019d cause mischief and keep the staff busy!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now receiving regular respite care, Harlow continues to light up the hospice with her energy. \u201cShe\u2019s a whirlwind\u2014dragging her cables behind her as she crawls around causing chaos!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Zoey, Claire House has not only been a lifeline but a source of cherished memories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter losing Liam and finding out how unwell Harlow was, I felt like my world was falling apart. But Claire House helped me feel less alone. They gave me space to breathe\u2014and gave Harlow a chance to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Find out more about Claire House Children\u2019s Hospice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clairehouse.org.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<br \/>\nFind all the latest Liverpool news\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theguideliverpool.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit<a href=\"https:\/\/thenorthernguide.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thenorthernguideuk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HERE.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>                <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Liverpool mum has paid tribute to the nurses at Claire House Children\u2019s Hospice for the care and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,12450,44540,5554,393,4884,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-94882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-charity","10":"tag-claire-house","11":"tag-community","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114493957522012102","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}