Our Story

Our beautiful little girl Isla Rose Sheraton-Toomey was born on Thursday 4th August 2022 at 12:45am weighing 6lb 4oz. After 38 weeks of trying to imagine it, we finally got to see her little face, tiny body and 10 perfect fingers and toes; the love we felt was immeasurable and in that moment, we knew our world would never be the same again - our little girl was here.

Isla was such a character; she was full of love, confidence and had an ability to bring joy to everyone that met her. As she grew, she knew exactly what she did and didn't want and loved the attention she could get from waving and smiling at people. She was our little best friend and our sunshine.

On Friday 8th September 2023, our girl passed  away unexpectedly at 13 months and 4 days old. With absolutely no warning, Isla's heart stopped in her cot shortly after being put to bed. 

Our neighbours, paramedics, doctors and an amazing emergency response team at Southend Hospital in Essex worked to bring her back to life for 2 and a half hours but eventually there was nothing else that could be done. It was something that we never, ever imagined could happen and yet we were living every parent's worst nightmare. Her passing broke us all as a family and showed us how truly unbearable heartbreak is.

We started fundraising on 23rd September 2023 - initially as an outlet for close friends and family to donate to instead of sending flowers for Isla's celebration of life. What happened next was incredible, and Isla's page was flooded with messages of love, support, strength and generosity from people all around the world. To say we were overwhelmed would be an understatement - thousands of pounds of people's money donated, all in our little girls name. We still can't believe it.

It lit a fire in us both - one that took us by suprise as we didn't think we'd be able to care about anything again, but it made us realise we  want to raise as much money and help as many people as we possibly can. 

In November 2023 it was confirmed that Isla died because of an extremely rare heart condition - Histiocytoid Cardiomyopathy. There is very little known about the condition and thought to be approx. only 150 known cases to date globally. We were lucky enough to meet a Doctor/Professor at GOSH who had heard of it and he shared the very limited known facts with us. The support we’ve recieved from GOSH since the diagnosis has been incredible but seeing children and babies waiting for their appointments at GOSH is heartbreaking and we decided to help as much as we can.

So here we are! In May 2024 The For Isla Foundation was born. We work with world class cardio consultants at GOSH and through the ”Isla’s Ray of Sunshine” programme, we provide one off gifts to children and babies with ultra rare paediatric cardiomyopathies. We hope to bring a little light to these children and their families in what can be a very dark time.

It feels as though life has been so unfairly cruel to us, but the generosity, kindness and love that has been and continues to be wrapped around us is something we never, ever expected and it will stay with us forever. And we want to share that with all those unfortunate to go through similar experiences as ours.

Thank you,

Isla’s Mum and Dad - Natalie and Carl x