Saltcoats parents pay tribute to their little warrior Alfie

Alfie sadly passed away last Wednesday and an outpouring of grief across the Three Towns community has shown just how many lives he touched and how many people loved him. 

Born in January 2008, Alfie and twin sister Rosie were hugely premature and arrived after just 24 weeks but battled against the odds to survive.

Mum Donna, 37, and dad Paul, 32, who live in Saltcoats, explained the difficult start to life for the wee battler.
They said: “Alfie’s heart kept stopping and they couldn’t find a second heartbeat. So then they rushed me through and put me to sleep and the next three days are a blur. 

“There was going to be a lot of stuff happening over the first few days and it was going to be very, very touch and go, even though they had been born whether they would survive.”

Alfie and Rosie remained in hospital for months before getting out after nine and 13 months respectively.
The James McFarlane pupil had cerebral palsy and his parents knew from an early age that he needed a nasal cannula, had liver failure and lots of other health issues, so they took things one day at a time.

Donna said: “We took things one day at a time, because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, if it does come – so we never really made plans to start with. We were at the hospital every other day but when he got home it was busy, busy, busy.”

“His health changed almost every year. There was always something added on continuously. He had sleep apnea and he couldn’t swallow any more so we changed to a tube feeder and then tests showed he was to be bowel fed because his stomach wasn’t working either.”

He loved going to school and as a pupil at James McFarlane in Ardrossan he was a well-known character but also well-known throughout the Three Towns. 

Alfie along with his parents and siblings were supposed to be going abroad in August and he had passed his fit to fly test but passed away in his sleep last week. 

Dad Paul had been working in South Sudan and just returned a few days before Alfie passed away and they believe he waited to see his dad before taking his last breath.

Donna added: “We as parents have always been told, right from the very start, that every day could be the last day. 

“We used to plan a day ahead, then a week ahead and then looking at next year but in the back of our minds it has always been there.

“I think he decided because he hated hospitals and he decided I am away myself. 

“Paul was in South Sudan working for six months and got home last Saturday and they had like a boys day, went for a haircut and watched wrestling and football. 

“It’s as if he has waited for him to come home.”

The community has rallied round the family and there will be a balloon launch for Alfie on Sunday afternoon at 2pm at Ardrossan South Beach and there is a football match being organised in his honour.

Donna said: “It has been absolutely immense. 

“The amount of people who just loved the wee guy, you see on Facebook and Instagram the amount of messages.

“I think it has been lovely because he did, literally, touch everybody, cause he did pinch everybody’s bums, all the women got a bum pinch and if you didn’t he might not have liked you.”

There will be a celebration of Alfie’s life on Monday, July 29 at 2pm at Clyde Crematorium in the Garnock Valley.

Donna said: “We weren’t meant to have him and we got 11 and a half years. 

“It doesn’t hurt any less but it makes me feel better as a mum that it is a celebration of his life rather than a funeral. 

“We want to thank everybody because they have been absolutely brilliant.”