THE family of a little girl who died from a heart condition are continuing to keep her memory alive following the birth of her baby brother.

Darcy, who lived in Malton, with her parents Emily and Kristian D’Rosario, died on January 24, 2019.

The youngster, who was born with a serious heart condition, was due to undergo an operation at Leeds General Infirmary when an infection went to her heart.

Darcy’s sister, Beatrice, was born just five days before her death, and last month the family welcomed Arlo.

Kristian said Arlo, who was born on July 20, was very much like Darcy.

“He is very chilled and relaxed as Darcy was, which is handy as Bea is a lively toddler,” he said.

“We talk about Darcy every day and have photos of her all round the house.

“Bea loves to get the photo albums out and sits looking through them smiling and pointing at Darcy.”

Kristian said it was important to them that Darcy was still part of the family.

“As far was we are concerned we now have three children,” he said.

“People often don’t know what to say to us or how to approach the subject of losing Darcy but she will always be our eldest child.”

Following Darcy’s death, her family have worked to raise awareness of child bereavement while helping to support other parents.

Kristian said: “So far we have raised over £6,000 for Martin House Hospice in Wetherby

“After the passing of Darcy, we were introduced to Martin House where we were able to stay with her for five days.

“It costs £28,000 per day to run the hospice, which is a huge amount and our target is to raise that amount to fund one day’s care.”

Various fundraising events have been held to raise funds, including a charity football match, the Darcy Cup, which was held for the first time last year.

Kristian said: “Unfortunately we couldn’t hold the event this year due to coronavirus, however we hope to be back bigger and better next year, possibly in a small stadium.

“As well as raising funds, we want to do all we can to raise awareness of the important work Martin House does.”

Funds have also been raised through Love Darcy Clothing, set up to enable Darcy’s memory to live on.

Kristian said: “Every slogan on our clothing is inspired by Darcy herself, whether that be phrases she used to say or words we feel encompassed Darcy’s personality.

“Even though the logo is quite ‘girly’. We’ve had orders from footballers to put it on their boots and gloves.”

He added: “We’ve also had orders from as far afield as Australia, America and Israel.

“People have been so supportive and it is crazy, but amazing, to see photos of them wearing something with Darcy’s name on it at the other side of the world.”

Kristian said he was also using his experiences by getting involved with the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands.

“No parent wants to go through the lose of a child, whatever their age,” he said.

“I wanted to help by sharing our experiences with other bereaved parents.

“Everyone deals differently with grief, but some find using memories is one way of moving forward.”

Next week, the family will mark Darcy’s birthday by visiting one of her favourite attractions.

Kristian said: “Darcy loved animals and going to the zoo, particularly the big cat sanctuary near were we lived in Kent.

“Bea is also showing an interest in animals so we will mark Darcy’s birthday at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.”

Kristian said although Darcy would have been eight on August 24, to him and Emily, she would always be six.

“It is difficult seeing her friends growing up and wondering what Darcy would be like,” he said.

“She was already showing a lot of sass and was so protective of her mum.

“It has been a very difficult 18 months and it still hurts that Darcy has gone.

“Our world was shattered, but Darcy gives us strength to help others in her name and we hope we make her proud.”

Love Darcy Clothing can be found on Facebook.