A heartbroken mum says her family feel like they have been hit by a “ton of bricks” after she lost three unborn babies – in just EIGHT months.
Hannah Schooler, 19, said the loss of her ‘Rainbow Baby’ daughter Elsie-Mae, after she was born 26 weeks into her pregnancy in July, has been devastating.
The terrible ordeal came just eight months after Hannah tragically miscarried twins when she was nine weeks pregnant.
Hannah and partner Grant Wright visit the cemetery in Hull, East Yorks., every day where their babies lay.
They marked last Thursday (Oct 27) – the date Elsie-Mae had been due – by decorating her grave in Hull, East Yorks., with balloons and gifts marked “Happy Due-Day”.
Hannah, of Hull, East Yorks., said: “She should be here with us, and on Thursday we should have been waiting for her to join us.
“Since it happened, we go every day to the cemetery. It’s so hard, but it helps us cope, and if she was here with us we would be devoting all the time in the world to her.
“We plan our week around visiting her at the cemetery and it helps us cope with the grief.
“After we lost our twins last November, it was so hard – but we didn’t think anything would go wrong this time.
“We passed the 12-week mark with Elsie-Mae and after that nothing is meant to go wrong – but it did.
“It hit us like a ton of bricks – we have been in shock and it has been such a difficult time since July for us.”
Hannah said the entire family visited Elsie-Mae’s grave just before noon and left gifts and balloons tied up at the grave so they could not blow away.
But when she revisited the site the following day they had gone, including one inscribed “Happy Due Date Elsie-Mae”.
Miss Schooler said her daughter’s grave has a wooden ‘E’ on her grave had also been picked at – so the family believe the balloons were stolen and they did not blow away.
Speaking about the despicable act, Hannah said: “We had really planned the day and got lots of balloons to put on her grave with flowers and things.
“They were special balloons for my special baby – I couldn’t believe it when they were missing.
“We went down with all our family and knotted the balloons so they wouldn’t blow away – but when we went back the next day they had gone.
“I’m just in shock and am angry, really, that somebody would do that and take something from a baby’s grave.
“I know they were just balloons but they had a lot of meaning and really meant something.
“It was a big and emotional day for us and we had put a lot of time into planning it.”
Miss Schooler said a friend had visited the cemetery later that afternoon but the balloons, which included ones with pictures of a rainbow and the film Frozen on, had already vanished.
She had hoped to release the baloons the following day in Elsie-Mae’s memory and called for cameras to be installed at sites across the cemetery.
Hannah said: “They cost a lot of money and are special to us – they are not there to be stolen.
“We put them there because they mean something to us and they are for Elsie-Mae, not anybody else. I don’t know who would want to do something like this.
“You hear about these things a lot, but you don’t think it’s ever going to happen to you.
“Since it happened, a lot of people have told me things have been taken from their family’s grave as well.
“It wouldn’t hurt them to put cameras around so it doesn’t happen again.”
