Mother of Peppa Pig superfan thanks makers Hasbro for 'thoughtful' gesture towards her late son
A mother who appealed for the new baby in Peppa Pig to be named after her late son has thanked the cartoon makers for contacting her ahead of the arrival of Peppa's new sister Evie.
Hasbro announced on ITV that little Evie — sister to Peppa and George — was born at 5.34am.
According to the writers, the baby was even born at the same hospital as William and Catherine's royal children.
Since the "pregnancy" was announced in March, Colleen McNally has been appealing to the cartoon makers to name the new baby Daragh after her son, who was the show's biggest fan before he died of cancer at the age of 11.
Daragh McNally from Dundalk, Co Louth, had very little conversational speech due to his autism diagnosis but could repeat every line of every episode of the popular children's cartoon series, which he watched on repeat daily.
He adored Peppa Pig so much, he had every toy and memorabilia, which are now stored in the attic. A special Peppa Pig was even made for his resting place.
Peppa and George visit their new sister Evie in hospital.
Colleen, her husband Paul and his two sisters and brother were forced to say goodbye to Daragh when he contracted an aggressive form of lymphoma and died on November 24, 2019.
Colleen's appeal garnered support from hundreds of well-wishers and she was thrilled her campaign had reached Hasbro, which contacted her ahead of the baby birth.
"Daragh just watched Peppa on repeat every single day. Even though he had very little conversational speech, he could say every line from Peppa Pig," she said.
"Every Christmas, he would get the Smyths catalogue and go to the Peppa Pig pages.
He would point to every Peppa toy that he hadn't got and say 'I want that one, that one, that one'. George Pig was his favourite."
"I didn't think I'd be able to reach Hasbro but they got in contact a few weeks ago to say they were deeply moved by Daragh's story and they were sending on a very special delivery, which we are expecting any day.
"I knew in my heart that it was a long shot for them to use Daragh's name and that it might never happen but it was so thoughtful of them to contact me."
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