OUR TEAM
Meet the People Behind the Work
MILLIE CANN
Founder
After the loss of our daughter Skye, who was born at 30 weeks with anencephaly, I wanted to make a difference. I am passionate about making a change to the agonising journey families have to endure after the loss of a baby. A small butterfly can make such a difference. We started The Skye High foundation after the loss of our beautiful daughter Skye. We experienced some devastating comments throughout pregnancy, neonatal and even for months after. The heartbreak is unimaginable and I desperately want to help others who have to experience this heartache.
LEWIS CANN
Founder
After losing our daughter Skye, I felt the need to try and raise awareness with Millie of the journey we experienced. It has been an emotional time but hearing all the stories from other families, knowing we weren't alone has helped me deal with the grief. I feel pleased that we have been able to reach other families and make a difference.
HEATHER O'SULLIVAN
Trustee
My Twins were born at 25+1 weeks. I found The Skye High Foundation in 2016, when we devastatingly lost our dear Son, Harry, at 11 days old. The Purple Butterfly allowed us to show others that Grace is our wonderful surviving Twin. Our butterfly was always kept on Grace’s incubator and has remained a large part of our lives to this day because it represents our Harry and our Grace together.
I want to help support others that have endured this agony of loosing a multiple. I am very proud to be a trustee of The Skye High Foundation. I will always be a Mother to Twins, a Mother to three beautiful children.
JONATHAN BATH
Trustee
My son Hunter was an identical twin with his brother Hudson who sadly passed away after four days of life, having been born at 26.5 weeks. After experiencing such trauma, my wife and I found comfort in receiving the purple butterfly cot card which we placed on Hudson's incubator for the duration of his NICU journey. The purple butterfly plays a significant part in our family's lives and emphasises that Hunter is always here cheering us on. I am passionate about supporting others who find themselves having to go through such unprecedented circumstances and strive to help grow the Skye High Foundation to wider audiences, showcasing the charities’ fantastic work. I feel very privileged to be a trustee for such an amazing charity.
EMILY LEWIS
Trustee
I was lucky enough to come to be involved with The Skye High Foundation over a year ago to help organise the second Skye High Day. It is honour to be part of the team and watch it grow and help so many families lives.
KATIE SWEENEY
Fundraising Coordinator
I came to be involved with The Skye High foundation as part of a university project. We created a video that gained 110,000 views and organised the first Skye Day. It's a privilege to be part of the team and to be able to help families in need.
NICK EMBLETON
Patron
I qualified from Newcastle medical school in 1990 and was appointed Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle in 2002, and also hold an honorary appointment from Newcastle University as Professor of Neonatal Medicine. I have been actively involved in research for most of my career and am widely published especially in the area of neonatal nutrition (see www.neonatalresearch.net) . In the last 10 years I have worked closely with Professor Judith Rankin and Dr Ruth Graham conducting qualitative studies exploring the experiences and feelings of parents and staff in the area of baby loss. These studies led on to work where we spoke with families who had suffered loss in a multiple (twin, triplet) pregnancy where one baby had died either before or after delivery, and where at least one baby had died. We conducted workshops with parents and staff, developed the idea for the Butterfly project and obtained further funding to make a series of short films that our freely available www.neonatalbutterflyproject.org. Our guidelines are aimed at improving staff knowledge and education, and have been translated into several different languages including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Swedish and Romanian.