NORTH CANTON, Ohio — A northeast Ohio couple has been using the pain felt by losing a child to ease the pain felt by families going through similar situations.
What You Need To Know
- According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 24,000 babies are stillborn each year
- A North Canton couple is using their story of loss to raise awareness and give the gift of time to parents who’ve suffered that loss
- Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness day is Oct. 15
Tony Maroon has been in law enforcement for nearly half of his life. He’s seen and experienced a lot of pain, but he said nothing compares to losing a child. His daughter, Ashlie, was stillborn.
“You always think about, you know, you see little girls running around your neighborhood and you always wonder, you know, I never get that chance,” said Maroon.
In October 2015, due to issues that doctors couldn’t quite explain, Ashlie was stillborn. Maroon built a pond outside of his home in her memory, an on-going project that helps him cope.
“Every year, I try and add a little bit to it, and I’ll put different statues in and I’ll paint the statues and then I drain it every year and, and take care of it like I would my daughter,” he said. “So, this pond means a lot to me.”
The pond is just the start when it comes to how Maroon and his wife, Erin, have worked to honor their daughter.
They also started Ashlie’s Embrace, a non-profit organization that provides cooling units to medical facilities across the United States to help support families experiencing stillbirth and infant loss.
The cooling units are called Cuddle Cots. They are manufactured in United Kingdom, and allow families to have more time with their babies. Time with her daughter is something Erin didn’t have.
“I held her for maybe 15 minutes, 20 tops,” Erin Maroon said. “And then I gave her back and I thought that’s just what you did.”
The device was rare in the United States until Ashlie’s Embrace started changing that. The organization raises the thousands of dollars it takes to get them made and sent to the U.S., and then donates them to hospitals.
So far, Ashlies Embrace has donated Cuddle Cots to 120 hospitals across 29 states, and every hospital in Ohio has been offered one.
“This is so important to me because I know that there will be other families that will experience loss like this,” Erin Maroon said. “Even if they choose not to use the Cuddle Cots, they have a choice, and we didn’t have any choices.”
Some families that have similar stories as the Maroons have donated Cuddle Cots in their own child’s name. Some hospitals have covered the cost to have them. The Maroons said they consider themselves extremely blessed to now be raising a healthy boy. Erin Maroon said she’s honored to be AJ and Ashlie’s mom.
“I said when she was pregnant that she was going to change the world,” she said. “I kept saying that and everybody thinks their baby’s going to change the world and that’s how we’re supposed to think as parents, but I just had this gut feeling.”
Ashlie’s Embrace hosts an annual gala which raises money to purchase and place more Cuddle Cots in hospitals. This year’s event is Saturday, Oct. 9. More information can be found at the event’s page.
