Recently, a video detailing the danger of whooping cough went viral online, and its devastating impact has been driven home through the story of Riley Hughes.
Riley was just 32 days old when he died from whooping cough, and as they approach what should have been his first Christmas, parents Catherine and Greg want to make a difference.
Following Riley’s tragic death, the Hughes family launched a campaign called Light for Riley (link here), to increase immunisation awareness.
As part of their campaign work, the family has already prompted the Australian Government to increase its pregnancy vaccination programme, and they have also raised $74,000 for whooping cough research.
In their latest project, to honour Riley’s memory among families this Christmas, the Hughes family has just donated vaccines to UNICEF Australia – and they want other families to be inspired and follow suit.
Explaining the motivation behind their choice, mum Catherine said: “This Christmas, we committed to purchasing one less plastic toy that would probably roll under the couch and be forgotten about, and instead purchased 200 vaccines on behalf of Riley and our daughter Olivia.”
“We think that by donating vaccines in honour of our children, we are not only protecting the lives of other children, we are helping to eliminate diseases from the world – maybe that will be a gift to our children’s children,” she added.
