Mackenzie Wiseman from Portsoy was just three months old when she passed away suddenly last month.
In an emotional interview her mum Chelsea Bridgman has shared their story in the hope she can help others and “keep Mackenzie’s legacy alive.”
‘We always wanted a baby girl,’ said mum
Chelsea, who works in JG Ross’s baker’s shop, Portsoy, and her partner Liam Wiseman (36) found out “around this time last year” that she was pregnant with Mackenzie.
“We thought ‘we will just try one more time and see if we can have a girl’. And sure enough, we got her,” said Chelsea 33.
The couple – who have known each other since they were teenagers – have been together for the last seven years. They also have son Kieran, six, and Lewis, 11, from Liam’s previous relationship.
Although they were counting down the days until Mackenzie’s due date of July 23, Chelsea’s pregnancy wasn’t an easy one.
Liam was battling cartilage issues in his knees, unable to work, and Chelsea was suffering hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme form of morning sickness requiring hospital care.
“We were in and out of Elgin constantly. When you have hyperemesis you are treated as a day patient so Liam would have to take me there in the morning and pick me up each night, for days and weeks on end.
“We knew getting a wee girl at the end would make it all worthwhile.”
Special names for a special little girl
Taking her maternity leave early due to being so unwell, Chelsea went into labour three weeks early.
“That was an experience! I have Strep B so had to be taken to hospital in Aberdeen right away to go on antibiotics. After a few false starts with being induced, she arrived on June 29th.”
Their 5lb 15oz “cheeky” bundle of joy was all they could have wished for.
Named Mackenzie after Liam’s granny Molly Mackenzie and Morag after his other grandmother, the middle name also has special significance.
“She got Samantha from my sister who has serious liver disease. She’s been my best friend all my life but she’s becoming more ill now.
“Mackenzie was supposed to carry that name on when Samantha isn’t with us anymore.”
Reflecting on her baby girl’s birth Chelsea says the day was special.
“We left that hospital and our family was complete. It was amazing.”
Little Mackenzie was doted on by the whole family
In the days and weeks after her birth, the family settled into family life enjoying as much time as they could in their “cocoon”.
Older brother Lewis came for a visit in the summer holidays to meet his baby sister, and Kieran enjoyed morning feeds with “his baby.”
A mummy’s girl in the day and a daddy’s girl at night, she enjoyed watching Cocomelon and Daniel Tiger, and loved mummy and daddy singing Ed Sheeran’s Perfect to her.
“She was just starting to show her personality. Cheeky and loud… and so advanced. She was hitting every milestone before she was supposed to,” added Chelsea.
‘She’s gone, Mackenzie is gone…’
Enjoying the October school holidays the family were all at home together when tragedy struck.
Chelsea had awoken in the night to feed Mackenzie, before settling her safely beside her dad.
“I made sure she couldn’t roll off, and that Liam couldn’t roll onto her. She was absolutely fine.
“I got up for a bit and dozed off on the couch. I awoke the next morning to Liam screaming ‘she’s gone, Mackenzie’s gone’.”
What happened next became a “blur” for the family.
After running to Mackenzie Chelsea grabbed Kieran, while Liam called an ambulance.
Taking her son to the safety of a neighbour when Chelsea returned Liam was doing CPR.
“It took 18 minutes for a first responder to get there and Liam worked on her – on his sore knees – for all of that time.
“When the first responder arrived she put Mackenzie on a tiny little baby CPR machine. Then he told us it was too late she had already gone.”
‘We were left wondering what we did wrong’
Chelsea then had to follow the ambulance to the hospital in order to formally identify her baby girl.
“They took me to a room where they had wrapped her nicely and placed her in a nice basket with yellow flowers on it.
“I was given a keyring with a missing heart, and they placed that heart in her little hand. We were given a toy elephant to bring home, and one to place in her basket.
“And then I left the hospital without my baby girl, wondering what we did wrong.”
Comfort amidst the deep pain of loss
In the aftermath of the tragedy while police investigated the family weren’t allowed back into their home. Mackenzie was then taken to Glasgow for a post-mortem.
Chelsea was later told she wasn’t alone in the ambulance. Another north-east baby was also being transported for the same reason.
“Isn’t that the most heartbreaking thing you’ve ever heard?” Chelsea said. “Though there’s a little bit of comfort knowing Mackenzie wasn’t alone in there.”
The family were given the result: no known cause of death.
“Basically cot death,” Chelsea explained. “In some senses that helps because we now know whether we had sat up all night with her, or whether she was in a cot on her own, this was always going to happen. But in another sense it’s hard to have closure when we don’t know why.”
Cot death – also known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – is the term used to describe the sudden death of a baby younger than one year of age that doesn’t have a known cause, even after a full investigation.
‘We wanted to sing for Mackenzie one last time at her funeral’
Mackenzie’s funeral was held on October 29 at Moray Crematorium.
Family and friends were asked not to wear black. Even her tiny handmade coffin was sprayed pink.
“We were really lucky that our funeral director Wullie Urquhart is also our friend. It brought us so much comfort to know he was looking after her.”
Carried in by her daddy and uncle, Mackenzie’s tiny casket was followed by her grandad carrying roses in the shape of a pillow. Both her grandmas said goodbye to their granddaughter, leaving white roses on her coffin.
Finally, mum Chelsea did the same.
She was laid to rest in her “best bunny outfit”.
Halfway through the celebration of her life a slide show of her happiest moments was played. Over the images was a special version of her favourite Ed Sheeran song, sung by Chelsea and Liam.
“We found someone with a recording studio. I know it sounds funny but we wanted her to hear it the way we sung it to her, one last time.”
‘Portsoy community support has kept us going,’ family say
At the funeral donations were collected and given to the Scottish Cot Death Trust.
“I mean Mackenzie had maybe the most Scottish name ever. And we hadn’t even heard of any charities that help with cot death so it made sense to choose one close to home.
“More than £500 was collected on the day and we’ve since started a Go Fund Me page.”
Now with more than £1600 of their £5000 target raised, Chelsea hopes sharing Mackenzie’s story will help highlight SIDS and benefit the the charity.
“It’s also a way to make sure Mackenzie’s legacy lives on.
“You know, you asked me how we are. Well the answer is that some days are good and others are harder. The dust is starting to settle and so the reality that she’s not coming back is hitting us.
“Doing something in her name is helping us. And it will help others too.”
On Saturday the community of Portsoy gathered to watch fireworks released as a memorial to Mackenzie too.
“We couldn’t have wished for a better community to be part of. They’ve been with us every step of the way.”
Chelsea is treasuring final happy memories
Asked if she had one special moment she would treasure Chelsea described a precious memory of Liam and his baby girl.
“She had just started to babble and as I stood there watching her daddy looked down at her, she looked up and him and was babbling away. It was the most loving, touching moment.
“I’m so thankful I videoed it because I watch it over and over now. It’s all we have left.”
You can hear Chelsea and Liam’s heartfelt tribute here:
- To donate to the family’s Go Fund Me page in aid of the Scottish Cot Death Trust click here.
Conversation