'I want Azaylia to look down and be proud of me'

Safiyya Vorajee and Ashley Cain are coming to terms with the grief of losing their daughter by helping other families

When baby Azaylia died from leukaemia in April 2021, her parents Safiyya Vorajee, 34, and former footballer Ashley Cain, 31, were devastated. They have now separated but remain united by their charity work. Here, Safiyya shares her heartbreaking story...

'The necklace that I wear every day has a copy of Azaylia's handprint on it. I also have a cast of her feet which I hold whenever I need extra comfort. A whole year has passed since my beautiful eight-month-old daughter went up to heaven.

Since then, every day, sometimes more than once, I go to her special resting place. It's the only place where I feel real calm. At difficult times like Christmas, Mother's Day, and when I just don't know how to cope, I go and decorate her "garden" there, sharing those special moments with her.

Not knowing how to mark the first anniversary of losing her made me panic. I went to her resting place in the morning, at the time she passed, and I spent all day there, until the cemetery shut that night.

The day before, Ashley ran an ultramarathon - 100 miles from Azaylia's resting place in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, to Trafalgar Square in London - raising money for the charity foundation we set up in her name. I proudly cycled 55 miles of it myself. I swear the only reason Ashley and I are still walking this Earth is having that charity to pour our hearts and souls into.

I couldn't face the crowds at Trafalgar Square to meet him afterwards, I needed to mark the day quietly.

I wanted to create a "bed of heaven" with beautiful white roses and a little bell. We also released three doves into the sky - one for Azaylia, one for Ashley and one for me, to symbolise how us three will always be united.