Heartfelt Donations: aden + anais and The Dorsett Family
Our heart community has suffered more devastating losses this year. It's heart-wrenching to watch a fellow HLHS family say goodbye to their little warrior. With each loss, we are painfully reminded of the battle our children are fighting every single day. Each of our angel warriors holds a special place in our broken hearts. It's tragic and unfair that they can no longer be here on this earth with us and in the arms of their Mothers.
One of our HLHS warriors, Hayden Jeter Dorsett, earned his angel wings at just 5 months old. This sweet, beautiful baby boy with his big blue eyes, an infectious smile and adorable red hair would brighten our day when his Mom, Ady, would post precious pictures of him. You couldn't help but fall in love with the Dorsett family. When the news of his loss spread throughout our heart community, we all sobbed uncontrollably as we do every time we lose one of our own. The Dorsett family received an outpouring of support from family, friends, the heart community and even complete strangers. Thousands of people were touched by sweet Hayden in his short life.
Ady contacted Sisters by Heart shortly after his passing to offer a special product donation for our care packages in honor of Hayden. The nurses who cared for Hayden oohed and ahhed over him and the gorgeous aden + anais Swaddle Blankets he was always wrapped in. Hayden quickly became known for these blankets and it was rare to not see him swaddled in or sleeping soundly on one. Swaddling is extra comforting to our heart babies because we can't always hold them. Wires, tubes and med lines prevent us from snuggling our babies far too often in those first few weeks of life. Ady wanted the babies receiving SBH care packages to have their very own assortment of aden + anais Swaddle Blankets. She contacted them directly to see if they would allow her to purchase wholesale. Astonishingly, aden + anais responded saying they were so touched by Hayden that they would donate 104 (4)pks of swaddle blankets! Along with Ady, they also loved the idea of having our newborns wrapped in the comfort of their swaddle blankets in honor of sweet Hayden. More amazing yet, the Dorsetts offered to provide the aden + anais blankets after the donated supply runs out to continue honoring Hayden by helping as many families as possible.
Not only is baby Hayden watching over our heart warriors, he is now keeping them safe and comforted when they can't be in their parents' arms, neatly tucked into an aden + anais Swaddle Blanket and embraced in a sweet angel hug from Hayden.
"Angels are the guardians of hope and wonder, the keepers of magic and dreams." ~Unknown
Thank you aden + anais for your extremely generous donation of swaddle blankets in memory of Hayden. What a beautiful contribution to our care packages. We are truly grateful and honored to be able to provide these blankets to our newly diagnosed families.
And thank you Ady & Rob Doresett for your support to Sisters by Heart and sharing Hayden's journey with us. Hayden will always be a part of our SBH family and be forever missed. His memory will live on in our hearts and his life will continue to be celebrated through our care packages. Sending much love to you, Rob and Jackson today and always.
If you are as touched as we by the generosity and kindness of aden + anais, or are interested in their products, you can check out their full line on their website or send them some love on their Facebook page. They also offer some helpful tips here on how to help your newborn get a good night's sleep.
To read Hayden's story, or send the Dorsetts some love and prayers, you can visit Hayden's blog or Prayer Page for Baby Hayden on Facebook.
Want to share a picture of your newborn in a aden + anais swaddle blanket, or using other much-loved care package items? We would love to see them! Feel free to post on our Facebook wall or send via email to: info@sistersbyheart.org.
