Declan Marnell was born on the 4th of April 2005 at 11.54 and died suddenly in his mummy's arms on the 14th of January 2008.
He was the most amazing little boy i have ever met and i feel proud to say that we are his parents.He made us smile every day and even now with him gone, we remember him with a smile.He was cheeky and always up to no good.He loved winding his big brother Aidan up every day and had even more fun fixing things with his Daddy.There wasn't a day he wouldn't run around with his hammer and spanner.He also had a very special bond with his Daddy and cuddled into him every morning and night.
The 2years,9months,10days,2 hours and 6 minutes he has given us were the most amazing in our life and we treasure every memory we had with him. 'Til we meet again xxx
We are still working on this site and will upload more pictures,videos and lifestories over time.so please come back every so often to have a look in the life story section.
If you have any thoughts,memories or poems feel free to upload them in the "thoughts-section" .
If you have any pictures of Declan we don't have please,please upload these too.
If you would like to have pictures of Declan or any other information contact us on
yvonnem78@hotmail.co.uk
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Declan got his wings at 14.00
Here are a few pictures from the last few days before Declan fell asleep. He was as happy and healthy as always.
On some of the picture he was playing dentist with his daddy telling him "open" and "close" whenever he wanted.Those pictures where taken on the 10th of January 2008, 4 days before the tragic day.
Then there are the pictures in the snow, they were taken on the 8th of January and Declan loved the snow so much.
Some pictures are in the park with his brother Aidan.
On one of the pictures he was so tired, he fell asleep where he was playing minutes before.
Declan started to understand about christmas and santa and couldn't wait for him to come.He told us he wanted a bike from santa and his eyes were so full of joy when he unwrapped his bike in the morning.He also got a workbench and with the tools he fixed everything in the house. He was such a wee handyman already. When he unwrapped his cutlery with his name ingraved, he was quite disappointed and just dropped it onto the floor and went to open more presents.It was so funny.
He loved his christmas dinner too and ate all his veg first.
This was his first (and sadly the only) christmas in scotland with his granny and grandad and all his cousins and he enjoyed it so much.
Declan started the nursery after his 2nd birthday and loved it so much.He took time to get settled in at first, but after a few weeks he wanted to go every day and got upset when he couldn't go.He always showed us proudly the things he made, especially his cakes,muffins and biscuits.
When we moved to scotland he asked nearly every day to go back to "creche". He missed that place so much and we are so thankful for the great time the staff in the mulberry bush gave him.
The last bonfire night was a very cold night, but Declan loved all the fireworks and shouted out the different colours and if he didn't know the colour he just called it "purple".Declan was amazed by all the different sounds and clours and not a bit frightened.
Afterwards we went back home and he played with his wee friend Amy upstairs and then they went to bed together.
Declan really enjoyed this day and i wish we could have had many more bonfire nights to spend together.
Declan got his face painted at nursery that day and then went for a wee sleep on the sofa that afternoon, so there wasn't much left of his spider-face.
When he woke up we dressed him as a skeleton and went out "trick or treating"
He loved getting all the sweets and opend them all up when we got back in.
A few days before halloween we bought some pumpkins and Declan enjoyed putting his smily face on it and getting all the goo out of it. when we were done i took some pictures and he was so proud of his pumpkin and even cuddled it.
Declan loved being outside and playing on the trampoline, with his scooter or just getting really really dirty.
IT DIDN'T TAKE DECLAN VERY LONG TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CHRISTMAS WAS ABOUT AND HE ENJOYED ALL THE TOYS
Here are some pictures from summer'06.
we went out alot that summer as the weather was amazing in germany. we visited warner brothers movie park with declan, had loads of different bbq's,went to the safari park,magic park and went for load of walks too.
Finally Declan's stone got put up and it was such an emotional day and was like a huge wake up call to reality over and over again.
Declan Marnell was born on April 04, 2005 in Hannover, Germany.
The following was added by Rab;
The 4th of April 2005 was the proudest day of my life. The day I became a dad. Declan was born by 'c section' in Hannover. I was there with Yvonne for the birth. During the delivery Yvonne was strapped to the table and surrounded by mad German medical staff! The aneathsitist and a nurse were at the top of the table with me and Yvonne, with a screen so we couldn't see anything gruesome!! it was a wonderful occasion with even them two dancing around and singing!! When Declan was born he was shown to us then taken away for checks. I went with him whilst Yvonne was stiched up and repaired!
He was taken to the delivery room where he was left with me for two hours. Just the two of us. That was the most amazing two hours of my life. I held Declan and cuddled him. spoke to him for the two hours, telling him hoe I'd always be there for him. That I'd help him through all the troubles of life. How when he was old enough I'd teach him to drive, buy him a car, take him for a pint on his 18th birthday! How I wish I'd still be able to do these things.
Here are some pictures from Declan's first birthday. he was so amazed with all his presents and even the wrappingpaper.
Declan loved doing baking and here are some pictures from sep.2007
Here ae few pictures when Declan was only days and weeks old
We went on a day out in Scotland in august and here are some of the pictures.Declan loved being outside and he really enjoyed that day
We went on a day out to the beach and as always Declan loved being ouside and getting dirty
Here are some funny htings Declan got up to. He stole cake and we found him in a corner trying to cut it.He was always up to no good and when he made the "snow" in the livingroom we really had to try hard not laugh as he was so proud of himself.
This was Declan's 2nd christmas and we spoiled him with so many presents, he didn't know what to play with. He loved his christmas dinner so much too and was happy the full day long
xx
cant believe its been 2 yrs since you left here to become an angel your loved so much and missed every day sweetheart. you and cole were great together and you always manage to steal his dummy you were some character my heart aches so much when i think of you till we meet again forever in our hearts julie-ann paul curtis and cole xxxxxxxx
Here are some pictures from Declan's first birthday. he was so amazed with all his presents and even the wrappingpaper.
Here ae few pictures when Declan was only days and weeks old
Declan Marnell was born on April 04, 2005 in Hannover, Germany.
The following was added by Rab;
The 4th of April 2005 was the proudest day of my life. The day I became a dad. Declan was born by 'c section' in Hannover. I was there with Yvonne for the birth. During the delivery Yvonne was strapped to the table and surrounded by mad German medical staff! The aneathsitist and a nurse were at the top of the table with me and Yvonne, with a screen so we couldn't see anything gruesome!! it was a wonderful occasion with even them two dancing around and singing!! When Declan was born he was shown to us then taken away for checks. I went with him whilst Yvonne was stiched up and repaired!
He was taken to the delivery room where he was left with me for two hours. Just the two of us. That was the most amazing two hours of my life. I held Declan and cuddled him. spoke to him for the two hours, telling him hoe I'd always be there for him. That I'd help him through all the troubles of life. How when he was old enough I'd teach him to drive, buy him a car, take him for a pint on his 18th birthday! How I wish I'd still be able to do these things.
IT DIDN'T TAKE DECLAN VERY LONG TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CHRISTMAS WAS ABOUT AND HE ENJOYED ALL THE TOYS
Here are some pictures from summer'06.
we went out alot that summer as the weather was amazing in germany. we visited warner brothers movie park with declan, had loads of different bbq's,went to the safari park,magic park and went for load of walks too.
Declan loved being outside and playing on the trampoline, with his scooter or just getting really really dirty.
We went on a day out to the beach and as always Declan loved being ouside and getting dirty
Declan started the nursery after his 2nd birthday and loved it so much.He took time to get settled in at first, but after a few weeks he wanted to go every day and got upset when he couldn't go.He always showed us proudly the things he made, especially his cakes,muffins and biscuits.
When we moved to scotland he asked nearly every day to go back to "creche". He missed that place so much and we are so thankful for the great time the staff in the mulberry bush gave him.
We went on a day out in Scotland in august and here are some of the pictures.Declan loved being outside and he really enjoyed that day
Declan loved doing baking and here are some pictures from sep.2007
Declan got his face painted at nursery that day and then went for a wee sleep on the sofa that afternoon, so there wasn't much left of his spider-face.
When he woke up we dressed him as a skeleton and went out "trick or treating"
He loved getting all the sweets and opend them all up when we got back in.
A few days before halloween we bought some pumpkins and Declan enjoyed putting his smily face on it and getting all the goo out of it. when we were done i took some pictures and he was so proud of his pumpkin and even cuddled it.
The last bonfire night was a very cold night, but Declan loved all the fireworks and shouted out the different colours and if he didn't know the colour he just called it "purple".Declan was amazed by all the different sounds and clours and not a bit frightened.
Afterwards we went back home and he played with his wee friend Amy upstairs and then they went to bed together.
Declan really enjoyed this day and i wish we could have had many more bonfire nights to spend together.
Declan started to understand about christmas and santa and couldn't wait for him to come.He told us he wanted a bike from santa and his eyes were so full of joy when he unwrapped his bike in the morning.He also got a workbench and with the tools he fixed everything in the house. He was such a wee handyman already. When he unwrapped his cutlery with his name ingraved, he was quite disappointed and just dropped it onto the floor and went to open more presents.It was so funny.
He loved his christmas dinner too and ate all his veg first.
This was his first (and sadly the only) christmas in scotland with his granny and grandad and all his cousins and he enjoyed it so much.
Here are a few pictures from the last few days before Declan fell asleep. He was as happy and healthy as always.
On some of the picture he was playing dentist with his daddy telling him "open" and "close" whenever he wanted.Those pictures where taken on the 10th of January 2008, 4 days before the tragic day.
Then there are the pictures in the snow, they were taken on the 8th of January and Declan loved the snow so much.
Some pictures are in the park with his brother Aidan.
On one of the pictures he was so tired, he fell asleep where he was playing minutes before.
Here are some funny htings Declan got up to. He stole cake and we found him in a corner trying to cut it.He was always up to no good and when he made the "snow" in the livingroom we really had to try hard not laugh as he was so proud of himself.
Declan got his wings at 14.00
This thursday was the worst of my life.when we left the church the played "twinkle twinkle little star". it was snowing on that day too and it was just the way declan would have wanted it. he loved the snow so much.
This was Declan's 2nd christmas and we spoiled him with so many presents, he didn't know what to play with. He loved his christmas dinner so much too and was happy the full day long
xx
Finally Declan's stone got put up and it was such an emotional day and was like a huge wake up call to reality over and over again.
Declan’s Lifestory
by his mummy Yvonne Marnell
4th of April 2005 - 14th of January 2008
Declan was born on the 4th of April 2008 in Hannover ,Germany. He was the most gorgous boy right from the start and made us smile every day.
I was very careful with everything as my little sister died on the 14th of January 1986 of cotdeath. I made sure he was sleeping on his back, not to warm, not to cold and nobody was allowed to smoke in the house.
In October 2006 we got posted to England and Declan settled into our new house quickly and loved his new nursery. He loved entertaining the other kids and also enjoyed his cuddles with the staff there.
He grew into a right little character and didn’t like people being sad. He loved Fireman Sam, Rory the Racing Car and Handy Many. He had a good laugh winding up his big brother Aidan (6) but always asked if he was “ok“. He always walked around with his play tools “fixing” everything
He was very close to his Dad and cuddled into him whenever he could, saying “I Love You Too” quite often, like he could read his Dad’s mind.
My Husband decided he wanted to leave the army and spend more time with the family, so in December 2007 we found a house in Scotland and moved back “home” to settle for good.
Declan wanted a bike for a long time and when he got one on Christmas morning he was so happy and we couldn’t get him off it for days.
A week before he died it started to snow in the evening and we all dressed up warm and went out with the sledge and again he had so much fun and trying to make snowballs trying to throw them as far as he could.
On the 12th of January Declan started to be sick at night and we took him into our bed to make sure he was ok. On Sunday the 13th he was much better but didn’t eat much and was very sleepy. I wasn’t to worried as I thought he was just sleeping the bug off and he didn’t have a temperature or rash. In the evening we all sat down together and watched “Flushed Away”. Declan loved all the little Rats and laughed at the right bits in the movie.
When it was bedtime he didn’t want to go to his bed and didn’t even watch Fireman Sam that night. Eventually he settled but started to be sick in the middle of the night again. We took him into our bed and I cuddled him all night.
When we got up on Monday morning he was much better, ate all of his breakfast and started running after me asking for more yogurt and juice. Around 10 o’clock Declan got very tired and I felt like there was something wrong so we made an appointment with the doctor. Again, there was no rash or temperature or any other obvious sign of something so terrible going to happen. Around 12 o’clock Declan was getting very floppy and didn’t have the strenghts to drink out of his beakercup, so we phoned the doctor and his appointment was brought forward to 2pm. We got to the Doctors 20 min early and on the way there Declan got very bad, he couldn’t hold his head up and was even more sleepy.
The Doctor checked Declan over and couldn’t find anything obviously wrong with him, but did see that he wasn’t well and send us to hospital with him straight away. (We were told afterwards that the doctor wasn’t worried either, as he has seen much worse and Declan didn’t have any signs of something so serious happening within in the next 2 minutes.) On this point Declan was slipping in and out of consciousness and I could see in his eyes how scared he was.
We went out to the car and I sat in the backseat with Declan in my arm. Before we made it out of the Carpark Declan stopped breathing and I screamed his name that’s when he opened his eyes for the last time and tried to take his last breath. I will never forget that look on his face, he looked so scared and I think he knew it was a good bye. I ran back into the Medical Centre with Declan in my arms, screaming: “He’s Dead, He’s Dead”. The Doctors had him hooked up to all the equipment they had within a moment, giving him oxygen and massaging his little chest. The ambulance arrived and we all went to hospital, by that time over 20 minutes where gone and deep in my heart I knew there was nothing they could do anymore as I remembered that look in his eyes, but I still had that tiny bit of hope in me.
When we run into A&E and I seen the amount of Doctors waiting, it made it even more clear how bad everything was. They tried for so long and at 3pm the Doctor turned around with tears in his eyes and shook his head, I remembered Rab shouting “noooo” and me hitting the floor and a nurse trying to catch me.
We then sat in a room with Declan until 6pm, I was singing him “twinkle twinkle little star” as it was his favourite nursery rhyme and told him I will always love him.
I can hardly remember the days afterwards, but do remember that phonecall after the post mortem and the news there was nothing wrong with him. I couldn’t believe my nearly 3 year old son died of the same thing as my sister on the same date 22 years later.
After 11 days Declan was brought back and we were able to see him at the funeral home. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully and was at rest. We put his favourite elephant, dummy and toys in his white casket. I went every day and sat with him not understanding why the sweetest most innocent child had been taken from me.
The funeral was on the 31st of January and we had “twinkle twinkle little star” playing when he left the church. The casket was on a horse drawn carriage and on the cemetery we had a piper playing, as Declan loved the pipes.
The days and weeks after are still a big blur but I got in touch with the Scottish Cotdeath Trust a few weeks later as I couldn’t understand how this was happening to a 2 year old. Michelle their Support worker came around and started taking care of us and explaining some things . It was also Michelle who told me about the SUDC Programme in the USA and that we are not the only parents in Scotland who have lost an older child to sudden death.
We are now organising a fundraising night for the SUDC in Declan’s Memory for the 16th of August and I am really hoping to raise more awareness throughout the U.K. too.
Declan is with me all the time, there is not a moment I don’t think of him or carry his love in my heart. I am now able to smile again when thinking of him and that is what Declan tought us in his short life, that smiling, having fun and giving love is the most important thing in life. I feel proud to call him my son and am forever thankful for the time we had with him.
DECLAN:
R.I.P
He was so very special,
and was so from the start,
I held you in my arms,
But mainly from the heart.
And like a single drop of rain,
That on still waters fall,
Your life did ripples,
And touched the lives of all.
You've gone to play with angels,
In heaven up above,
So keep your special memories,
And treasure them with love...
Although my darling son,
Was with me just a while,
He'll live on in my heart,
With a sweet remembered smile
R.I.P
Every time we close our eyes,
We see your smiling face,
There's something missing in our lives,
That no one can replace.
We may not hold you in our arms,
But we'll hold you in our heart,
In this way within our lives,
You'll always be a part.
Greatly missed always and forever.
xxxxxx
DECLAN
Too young to die,
Too precious to lose,
It was god's will,
We could not choose.
God bless.
DECLAN
Falling tears and aching hearts are things I have to bear,
But losing you, the way I did will always seem unfair.
Your cuddles I cannot replace.
You'll live in my heart forever.
Falling tears and aching hearts are things we had to bear,
But losing you, the way we did Will always seem unfair.
"Goodnight Dec"
DECLAN
Too young to die,
Too precious to lose,
It was God's Will,
We could not choose
DECLAN
Falling tears and aching hearts Are things we had to bear,
But losing you, the way we did Will always seem unfair.
"Goodnight, God Bless"
xxxxx
DECLAN As Angels keep their watch up there,
Please God just let him know,
That we down here will not forget,
We love and miss him so.
Too young to die,
Too precious to lose,
It was God's Will,
We could not choose.
DECLAN
A special smile,
A smiling face,
A special boy we cannot replace.
The tears in our eyes we can wipe away,
But the ache in our hearts will always stay.
A little lamb too sweet and pure,
Upon this earth to roam,
An angel came so silently,
And took our "dear Declan home".
DECLAN
Little angels robed in white,
Give Declan a kiss good night.
Im starting to hurt more and more.I miss you so much my wee baby. Keep looking at pictures of you and how beautiful you are. You have the most amazing eyes and such a cheeky smile. Life is just not the same without you and i just can't understand why you had to go, you have never done anything wrong in your short life and made everyone happy all the time. I love and miss you so much Declan, words can never describe the pain im feeling and i hope we'll meet again one day. Sleep tight my angel xxx
I started to build my Tribute to Declan Marnell today.
Precious memories of our much loved son and brother
Declan J Marnell
Born 4th April 2005
Fell asleep 14th January 2008
Do you make them laugh in heaven?
Do your antics make them cheer?
Do you make the sun seem brighter?
As it did when you were here
Always smiling and content
Loved and cuddled wherever you went
Always so loving and so kind
A beautiful memory you left behind
Today, tomorrow and all our life through
We will always love and remember you
Til we meet again
Mummy and Daddy
xxx