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'We wanted to give back'
Actress Sarah Parish opens up on This Morning about losing her little girl and wanting to give back to those who helped her
The star's baby Ella-Jayne died aged just eight months in 2009
SARAH Parish has opened up about the loss of losing her little girl, but how she is using her tragic death to help others.
Speaking on today's This Morning, the actress spoke about how she wants to "give back" following the death of Ella-Jayne.
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In an emotional interview today, the star revealed that the trust she set up in Ella's name is going from strength to strength.
She spoke of why she set it up: "The care she got at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit was awe inspiring and that was why it was so important to us when she passed we give back to those people to help us in such a desperate time."
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The actress and her husband James Murray lost their little girl, Ella-Jayne, in 2009 when she was just eight months old.
The couple were left devastated by the tragedy, and the actress admits she still struggles through "sad days" when she is haunted by memories of her little girl.
However, they are moving on from the tragedy by organising a multi-million pound charity drive to fund a new children’s A&E unit at the University of Southampton Hospital.
Ella-Jayne was treated at the medical centre for four months prior to her death.
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They set Murray Parish Trust as a legacy for their daughter, and have been busying planning a mass fundraising operation.
The drive is called 2 Million Steps, and they couple are aiming to raise £2million in two years after previously landing £2million in funding from Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osbourne.
The actress previously opened up to The Sun about the fundraising plan, revealing the project is easing their pain.
She sad: "There is only one way to numb the pain of losing a child and that is to help other children...
"It’s a daunting prospect but I think we can do it. It’s about saving lives, thousands of lives.
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"It will be able to treat children in a way they’ve never been treated at Southampton Hospital before.
"At the moment they have an adult and children mixed A&E so you might have a small child who has broken his leg next to a 60-year-old drunk person who‘s being aggressive and swearing at the nurses, it’s just not the place for a child to be."
The Murray Parish Trust previously funded a psychologist program at the Southampton hospital's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit to help parents.
It also raised more than £300,000 for specialist helicopter equipment for sick children and a further two beds at the unit.
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