Little Finley Ball lost his fight for life when he was just 15 days old.

His parents, Kerry and Norman Ball, are set to say thank you to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) for helping them through some very difficult times.

The couple, from Kesgrave, will be taking part in the charity’s Colour Dash in memory of Finley who died in November 2012 and received end of life care at The Treehouse.

Mrs Ball, 29, said: “When Finley was born he stopped breathing for a very long time. Thankfully he did start breathing again but was very poorly and we were told that he wouldn’t make it, or if he did he would be badly brain damaged.

“When Finley was in hospital we weren’t able to do anything for him. We couldn’t just pick him up when we wanted to – we had to ask the nurses to get him out of the incubator if we wanted a cuddle.

“When the doctors told us Finley wasn’t going to make it we made the decision to go to The Treehouse for end of life care. We wanted to feel like Finley was ours and not have to ask permission to cuddle him. We just wanted to be like a normal family.”

The couple, parents to Kyran, seven, and Caleb and Charlie, both five, did memory making in the hospital before Finley was transported to The Treehouse.

She added: “Although we weren’t sure if Finley was going to be strong enough to make the journey from the hospital to The Treehouse, he surprised us all and lived for nine days after he was taken off life support.”

While at The Treehouse, the family spent nine precious days together and were able to take photos of Finley without the tubes and wires and made a CD with Finley’s sounds.

Finley slept between his parents every night – something that would not have been possible in hospital.

Mrs Ball said: “The Treehouse didn’t smell like a hospital, it was like a home, but somewhere that Finley could still get the nursing care he needed. While all this was going on EACH staff cooked us meals and did our washing for us – it meant we could spend every last moment there was with Finley.

“It was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to go through, but the time we spent at The Treehouse made it easier.”

EACH staff also help with the funeral arrangements and Mrs Ball still visits for counselling support.

She added: “EACH is amazing and I don’t know what I’d do without them. It’s always a warm friendly place to go to and Finley felt like ours for the first time when we got there.”

Mr and Mrs Ball and their three children are taking part in the Colour Dash in Christchurch Park on July 12 at 9am.

Visit www.justgiving.com/kerry-ball1 to donate.