April 20, 2021 10.22 am This story is over 35 months old

Mum overwhelmed as vandalised grave donations smash target

An incredible response for a tragic story
Kacey died just hours after her birth in 2004. | Photo: Lyndsay Marshall
By Local Democracy Reporter

A fundraiser to help a Lincoln mother whose baby daughter’s grave was vandalised with a hammer has raised over £2,000 in less than 48 hours.

Lyndsay Marshall had visited her daughter Kacey’s grave at Washingborough baby cemetery over the weekend, on what would have been her 17th birthday, when she saw the heartbreaking damage.

The headstone had been smashed by a hammer and ornaments were scattered around the grave.

Kacey’s grave had been vandalised, leaving the headstone shattered into pieces. | Photo: Lyndsay Marshall

Kacey died just hours after her birth in 2004, due to being born premature at just 28 weeks of pregnancy for Lyndsay.

Lyndsay said that the vandalism incident “felt like that last bit of her has been taken away again” and it made her feel “numb” with sadness.

Her sister-in-law Hannah Ludkin then set up a fundraiser (you can donate here) to try and restore the grave, and the response was huge.

At the time of reporting, the fundraiser for Kacey’s gravestone stands at £2,140, soaring past the £2,000 goal less than two days after it was set up.

A truly awful thing to discover. | Photo: Lyndsay Marshall

Posting to the fundraiser, organiser and sister-in-law Hannah Ludkin said: “Due to the amazing donations we have now reached our target, it’s been such an amazing response and my sister is so overwhelmed and thankful.”

It is hoped that the money will go towards not just repairing the grave, but also increasing security for the baby cemetery, protecting other families from going through this in the future.

The fundraiser will be kept up for the foreseeable future, as Hannah and Lyndsay have pledged all excess money will go towards SANDS unit, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity that helped Lyndsay through her daughter’s death.

The damage has caused heartache for Lyndsay, who regularly visits her daughter’s grave. | Photo: Lyndsay Marshall

As well as this, the dresses that Hannah and Lyndsay both wore at their respective weddings will be donated and made into baby gowns.

Hannah said: “If something good can come out of something so heartbreaking then that would be amazing.”

Lyndsay said that the response to her story was incredible, as an Aldi member of staff bought her flowers while she was shopping.