A BASINGSTOKE couple have revamped a hospital garden in memory of their baby daughter who died there.

Rebecca Merritt-Dickins, from Black Dam, gave birth to her daughter Norianwe in April at 26 weeks premature.

She and her husband, Sean, were told their baby may only live for hours.

However, the couple had 10 weeks with their little girl during which time hospital staff helped them make special memories with her.

To say thank you, the couple raised almost £1,000 to revamp the garden in the Sherborne Building at the hospital, where they enjoyed spending time with Norianwe before she died on June 14.

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Rebecca, 29, said: “When she was born it was very sudden and very quick. She just wanted to come out.”

The HMV worker added: “There’s nothing that we can do to say thank you for everything the hospital did. What they did for us was absolutely incredible.

“Normally neonatal ward babies can’t go outside. One nurse Nikki really helped and got us a pram so we could take her out for walks. The nurse got a professional new-born photographer to come in and do a shoot in the staff room. There are no words to describe how much they mean to us.”

The couple spent time with their baby in the garden at Basingstoke hospital and Rebecca said: “We were able to take our daughter out into the garden during the day, she was able to feel the breeze and see the sun. She really enjoyed being outside and would fall straight to sleep as soon as we came out of the ward.”

Rebecca enlisted the help of her dad and his darts team to revamp the garden, where they have installed a purple bench in memory of Norianwe.

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The team of 10 also de-weeded the garden, cut back branches and repaired two benches, with the hope that others can now appreciate the space which had become overgrown and unused during the pandemic.

“It feels like it’s a way to keep her alive doing this for her,” said Rebecca, adding: “I think my way of getting through it is doing things for her.”

Rebecca and Sean also donated around 300 nappies they had at home to give to the neonatal unit.