British comedian Russell Howard shared he and partner Cerys Morgan have established The Felix Foundation in honor of their son who died shortly after his birth earlier this year.
Content warning: This story discusses the death of a child.
Russell Howard’s family is navigating an unimaginable loss.
The British comedian shared that he and longtime partner Dr. Cerys Morgan newborn baby boy Felix died hours after his birth earlier this year in a loss left Howard’s “family changed forever.”
“During the most devastating time of our lives,” he continued in his Sept. 4 statement shared to social media, “the hospital staff who cared for us showed extraordinary compassion, kindness and humanity. They helped us navigate an unimaginable heartache and gave us support when we needed it most.”
Paramount in that support was a bereavement midwife named Lauren, who Howard says had turned to such work after experiencing a similar tragedy.
“Her care,” he added, “meant more to us than we can ever put into words.”
Among the care they received was their son being put into a cooled cot, which allowed him and Morgan hold their son and talk to him.
“Those hours are among the most precious memories we have of Felix,” he said. “We were overwhelmed by the care we received, and we made a promise to each other: that we would try to help other families who find themselves facing the same devastating circumstances.”
Indeed, following the unimaginable, Howard and Morgan—also parents to a 2-year-old son—have decided to channel their grief into creating The Felix Foundation.
The organization aims “to relieve the needs of parents, siblings and other close family members affected by miscarriage premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death or related bereavement” by training additional midwives, raising money to augment support services, circulating information for families and much more.
Howard will be supporting his new foundation with a comedy gala in February, where he will be joined by comics such as Michelle Wolf, Greg Davies and Aisling Bea. All proceeds will go directly to The Felix Foundation.
“The Felix Foundation is named after our beautiful son,” the 46-year-old added. “We miss him dearly, every single day, but we take some comfort in knowing that his name will stand for kindness, compassion and laughter, and that his legacy may help other families through the darkest moments of their lives.”
He concluded, “We would love it if you came along and helped us make Felix's legacy something truly special.”
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