Parents of teen killed by car praise UK's first specialist bereavement service Alder Centre

The parents of a teenager killed after being hit by a car have praised a specialist centre for giving them "a sense of normality in a world that's not normal any more".

Harry Kinney-Ryan was just 13 when he was struck down as he tried to cross the road after buying sweets from a petrol station in Croxteth, Liverpool on 7 December 2022.

He was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but died two days later. The teenager was able to donate his organs, saving five lives with his heart, kidney, liver and blood vessels.

Following Harry's death his dad and step-mum were referred to the Alder Centre, based at the Liverpool hospital, is the only purpose built dedicated child bereavement centre in the UK, where the found comfort and those who understood.

"Being a bereaved parent is lonely, but it's not lonely in here, we all just get it," Leanne Kinney, Harry's step-mum, said.

"That's the importance of what this centre gives you, it's a sense of normality in a world that's not normal any more."

Leanne, Harry's dad Mark, and their two young daughters have received unlimited counselling, taken part in craft sessions, and been on two therapeutic residential breaks through the centre.

They say it has been "invaluable" to be in a community that understands what they are feeling.

"It just gives you the strength to know you can come here and be yourself, it changes you as a friend and a family member because people just don't get it," Leanne added.

"In here you'll come in and there's a group of parents who have lost a child but we're sitting and we're gabbing, and we're talking and we're laughing, it's not a sad place to be.

"Where you would think given the basis of what it offers it would be sad and people would be sad or crying, but it's not, you come in and we're chatting and we're friends.

"Our children are friends, the staff are our friends, it gives you a sense of community again with people who understand you.

"We're all at different stages of grief, so there's parents who come here who might have been here for 10+ years, and there's parents who is bereaved a few weeks, you all help each other.

'Nobody knows what to think, you might be thinking 'how are we going to get through this year,?' or 'how are we going to get through Christmas?' but in here you can have those conversations, and we help each other through.

"It's the best thing to come from a worst situation."

Anyone affected by the loss of a child can contact the Child Death Helpline on freephone 0800 282 986

Harry's dad Mark said the centre gives hope to those who are bereaved, showing others in their different 'stages' of grief, whether a week, a year or multiple years from their loved one's death.

"You can relate to them so much," Mark said. "They understand and everything you say to them, they know. They may have only been going for a few weeks, or for years.

"It's nice to see people are coping, are making it - we can see that it brings a little bit of happiness to what they're going through."

The Alder Centre is the only dedicated bereavement support facility for anyone affected by the death of a child.

It was funded entirely by donations and help from the Alder Hey Children's Charity, running a variety of free, confidential services to people bereaved through child loss.

It is also home to the specialist Snowdrop Team, who provide a 24 hour, 365 days a year response service to families whose child dies at, or is brought to, Alder Hey following their death.

How we can better deal with bereavement after a pandemic where so many died in such a short space of time? We take a look in the latest episode of our podcast, From the North.