The Need for Precious Wings

Losing a child at any time during pregnancy or beyond, is one of the most devastating, confusing, lonely and isolating experiences a parent can have. The impact of the loss is felt by parents, siblings, extended family, and the wider community.

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Precious Wings provides unique, immediate and ongoing support and resources to parents, extended families, people caring for them and the wider community, to help navigate the loss of a child. This means:

 

• Parents feel less isolated, more connected, supported and accepted

 

• Health professionals feel skilled to support and guide families with memory making activities and provide consistent and holistic after death care to a child and their family

 

• The community have the required knowledge and capacity to support bereaved parents and their families as they move forward throughout their daily lives, acknowledging their child remains present for them in everything they do

 

Through targeted interventions, including peer support networks and commemorative initiatives, we seek to help bereaved parents navigate their grief journey and find meaning amidst profound loss. By fostering supportive environments, we aim to mitigate the long-term impacts of child loss and promote healing within affected families and communities.

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For more than a decade, Precious Wings has demonstrated its worth and established a strong reputation. We collaborate closely with Queensland Health on a daily basis, delivering vital support services both during the critical moments following a child’s death in the hospital and through continuous care and follow up support within the community.

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Our Purpose

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• To give comfort, hope, understanding and support to families facing the devastating loss of their child, of any age from any cause

• To ensure all families who lose a child have the opportunity to create precious memories and feel a sense of ‘connection’ when leaving the hospital with empty arms

• To provide ongoing support to help bereaved families navigate this difficult lifelong journey of grief

 

We Provide 3 Pillars of Support

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we started out in 2013, we supported just a single hospital, Mater Mothers in Brisbane. Precious Wings now supports:

 

• 62 hospitals across Queensland and Northern New South Wales

• 12 major funeral homes

• Coronial services

• Hummingbird House children’s hospice, Ipswich Hospice, Karuna Hospice

• Community nursing services and adult palliative care services

 

Precious Wings provides its services to families (the ultimate beneficiaries) via the following institutions:

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• Adult Cancer Care Services at RBWH, Gold Coast Hospital, St Vincents Hospital and Princes Alexandria Hospital (memory boxes are given to young Mum’s and Dad’s dying of cancer for their children)​

• Buderim Private Hospital

• Bundaberg Hospital

• Caboolture Hospital

• Cairns Base Hospital

• Cairns Private Hospital

• Charleville Hospital

• Cloncurry Hospital

• George Hartnett Metropolitan Funerals, White Lady Funerals, Simplicity Funerals, Mccartney Family Funerals, Caring Angel Funerals, Bethel Funerals, Logan Funerals, KM Smith Funerals, Alex Gow Funerals, Holy Cross Funerals

• Gladstone Hospital

• Gold Coast Hospital

• Greenslopes Hospital

• Gympie Hospital

• Hervey Bay Hospital

• Hummingbird House

• Innisfail Hospital

• Ipswich Community Nurses

• Ipswich Hospice

• Ipswich Hospital

• John Tonge Forensic Services

• Karuna Hospice

• Lismore Base Hospital, NSW

• Little Haven Hospice

• Logan Hospital

• Mackay Base Hospital

• Mater Mother’s Hospital

• Mater Private Hospital, Rockhampton

• Metro North Community Palliative Care

• Nambour Hospital

• Northwest Private Hospital

• Prince Charles Hospital

• Princess Alexandria Hospital (Cancer Care)

• Queensland Children’s Hospital

• Redcliffe Hospital

• Redlands Hospital

• Rockhampton Base Hospital

• Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital

• St Andrews Private Hospital Ipswich

• St Vincent's Palliative Care

• St Vincent's Private Hospital, Toowoomba

• Sunnybank Private Hospital

• Sunshine Coast University Hospital

• Toowoomba Hospital

• Townsville Hospital

• Tweed Hospital, NSW

• Warwick Hospital

• Weipa Hospital

• Wesley Hospital

• Yeppoon Hospital

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Our Stories

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Kerry Gordon - Founder and CEO Precious Wings - In Loving Memory of Toby
 

My name is Kerry, and I founded Precious Wings after my son Toby was stillborn in 2011. Our lives changed forever that day. Instead of carrying home my gorgeous newborn baby boy to his excited big brother, I simply carried the shattered remains of my life, with no idea of how to piece it together again. I felt so alone, so scared and remember thinking that I would never feel happy again. At home we had a nursery prepared, baby clothes in the cupboard and a car seat ready to be installed. Our loneliness was compounded by the fact that talking about the death of a baby or a child is still so taboo in our society today. People didn’t know what to say to us and some stayed away altogether. When Toby died, I had a strong desire to make some meaning out of our utter devastation. This is where Precious Wings was born.

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In my professional role, I am a Nurse Practitioner working in paediatric palliative care at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. Prior to losing my son, Toby, I spent many years in paediatric emergency, walking alongside families who had lost a child. I thought I understood grief. I had supported families as they created memories, said their goodbyes, and navigated the overwhelming next steps. But nothing prepared me for my own loss.

When Toby died, I found myself completely unprepared. Despite my experience, I had no idea what to do. I was in shock, physically overwhelmed—I remember vomiting and feeling utterly lost. A compassionate midwife took photos for us and captured Toby’s hand and footprints, for which I will always be grateful. But in those moments, I was too scared of traumatising my then three-year-old son, so we didn’t bring him into the hospital to meet his brother. This remains one of my biggest regrets. I needed guidance, someone to hold my hand, provide choices, reassurance and help me to create precious memories.

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When I got home, I desperately needed to know that what I was feeling was normal. Even though my friends and family were very supportive, I couldn’t connect with them. Instead, I spent hours trawling the internet, searching for stories from other bereaved parents, looking for someone—anyone—who understood this pain. Losing Toby changed everything for me, both personally and professionally. It made me reflect deeply on my role as a nurse and the profound impact healthcare professionals have in these intimate, devastating moments. Walking alongside families in their darkest hours is an immense privilege, but it is also daunting and heartbreaking for clinicians. Yet, despite years in paediatric care, I had received little education on grief, loss, and how to truly support bereaved families.

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This experience ignited a determination in me: to improve education and training for healthcare professionals so that they are better equipped to support grieving families with compassion and confidence. Equally, it reinforced the critical need for bereaved families to connect with others who truly understand. In my experience, families often do not want to return to the hospital. Instead, we must build community capacity to support them throughout their lifelong journey of grief.

 

Toby remains a central part of our family. We celebrate his birthday every year and speak of him often. The reality is, when we lose a child, we don’t move on, forget, or have closure but instead we remember, honour, and incorporate our children into our lives in a whole new way. They shape us and remain present in everything we do. 

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Kirsty McKay - Director Precious Wings - In Loving Memory of George Vincent

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The 25th of February 2015 is a day forever etched into my memory. I should have been remembering a date later in the year – my third child’s birthday. However, on this day our beautiful son, George Vincent was stillborn. My world stopped. How could such a devastating thing happen. How was I going to carry on. I’d gone to my regular 24-week obstetric appointment and found out there that George had no heartbeat. I’ll never forget that devastating moment. Ever.

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George was the first of our babies that we’d decided to find out the sex of before he was born, so that made choosing a name a little easier. We were now choosing a name for our child who was no longer living. George for my stepfather and my husband’s father’s middle name. Vincent for my husband’s grandfather and his father and brother’s middle names.

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While in the hospital, and while I was still with my precious baby boy, a Precious Wings memory box arrived for me. A special box designed to keep George’s belongings. One of the first things that caught my attention was that it had been donated by another family in loving memory of their child. Seeing that name gave me hope. Another family had been through the loss of their child and had given back. If they could survive this, then so could I. 

George’s Memory Box helped me leave the hospital; I carried it out in my arms when I couldn't carry my baby. I still lovingly look through it. It gives me so much comfort.

 

Since losing George I have become involved with Precious Wings. I’ve met so many amazing families who are navigating the loss of their children. I know that the work we do continues to offer families some sense of comfort, just as it did for me when we lost George. I am so grateful to Precious Wings – not only for being there during my darkest days to offer a little ray of love and hope, but also since, for allowing me to be involved and give back in memory of my precious baby boy.

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