Mum's heartbreak as baby's grave headstone is stolen
ITV Cymru Wales' Issa Farfour reports
A mother has described her heartache and anger after someone stole a special headstone from her baby’s grave.
Carol-Ann Taylor’s son Dylan Sayce was born on March 12, 2008, before he tragically died six days later.
This year, Dylan would have turned 16, so to honour his special birthday Carol-Ann saved money for a headstone to be erected at his grave in Bridgend Cemetery.
But when Carol-Ann visited her son's grave along with her husband on 3 August, they were shocked to discover the personalised memorial and decorations had disappeared.
The council, which runs the cemetery, confirmed they had not been removed by staff.
Carol-Ann told ITV Cymru Wales: "I am angry that someone could do that to a six-day-old baby, it's just disrespectful.
"When I come here, I admire everybody's grave. I don't touch the graves.
"This is my child and I feel I've let him down and it breaks my heart and I shouldn't have to feel that way."
Describing the heartbreaking circumstances that led to Dylan’s death, Carol-Ann said she only discovered something was amiss 36 weeks into her pregnancy.
She said: "My son was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and I found out when I was 36 weeks pregnant with him. It was a massive shock.”
The option to terminate the pregnancy was advised, but Carol-Ann said she decided to go through with the birth to give little Dylan every chance of survival.
"My train of thought was: 'If he’s going to survive, he’s going to survive',” she said.
"He went in for [an] operation when he was five days old and survived until he was six days old. He survived 24 hours after the operation and then suffered a cardiac arrest."
Ever since the heartbreaking circumstances that led to Dylan’s death 16 years ago, Carol-Ann has made weekly visits to her son leaving flowers and ensuring it stayed in good condition.
However, she said that she, along with other mourners, had experienced some issues over the years with headstones and memorials being damaged or disturbed.She said: "Since Dylan has been here, he's been damaged quite a few times before we got the headstone.
"He had the cross on and that was damaged, broken, snapped in half.
"So it's been hard, but we just wanted to do something a bit more permanent for him so people could see who they were walking past.
"People see something and they just think that they have the right to take it and they don't. These are all loved ones here and they deserve to be respected."
Carol-Ann wants the council to put more precautions in place, like cameras or security.
Bridgend Council said in a statement: "We would like to offer our sympathies to the family and we urge anyone who witnesses suspicious or anti-social behaviour within a local cemetery to report it to South Wales Police online or by using the 101 number.
"We would also be happy to provide the family with support and advice designed to help prevent this from re-occurring.
"All headstones and memorials installed at the cemetery need to be authorised in advance so that they can be checked to ensure they are fit for purpose and can be securely and safely fitted by a registered professional to prevent injury or theft.
"While the memorial which has gone missing was not subject to this process, we can confirm that it has not been moved or put into storage by cemetery staff."
Carol-Ann said a kind person had set up a GoFundMe page to help the family.
Although Carol-Ann said she was incredibly grateful and would put the money towards a new memorial if enough is raised, she stressed that she did not set up the fundraiser herself and has never asked for money.
"We as a family are not asking anyone to donate – we haven’t asked for a single penny when it comes to Dylan – but if people do want to donate we are very grateful," she said.
"If we can get Dylan a lovely headstone in his honour that would be amazing."
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