Latest news with #Coolum
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Sunshine Coast mother Sarah-Rose Grauf writes book on baby-loss grief
WARNING: This article includes information and images relating to pregnancy loss and neonatal loss, which some readers may find distressing. A Queensland mum has channelled the agonising grief of losing her three-week-old daughter into a book she hopes will help other parents grappling with similar grief. Coolum couple Sarah-Rose and Marcus Grauf are among thousands of Australian parents grieving the loss of their baby — an experience no parent can prepare for. Mrs Grauf spent three weeks in South Brisbane's Mater Mothers' Hospital in September 2023 after her daughter Pixie-Rose was born. While pregnant, doctors had discovered the Graufs' unborn baby girl had CHARGE syndrome, meaning Pixie-Rose was at risk of being born with life-threatening defects because of a genetic mutation. CHARGE syndrome affects one in 15,000 births. The condition CHARGE is an acronym of the most common symptoms — coloboma (missing eye tissue), heart defects, atresia choanae (narrowed nasal passages), restricted growth, genito-urinary problems (affecting urinary organs) and ear abnormalities. Pixie-Rose was born at Mater Mothers' Hospital on September 4, 2023, weighing 2.6 kilograms. It was a natural birth, but she was put straight onto life support. The Sunshine Coast mum said it was "almost impossible" to accept her daughter's death. "As a mother, that's really hard … she looked chubby, she was cute, she looked healthy," Mrs Grauf said. The family was able to spend about three weeks with their much-loved daughter and sister before making the heartbreaking decision to turn off Pixie-Rose's life support. Her siblings had the chance to say goodbye to their baby sister before she died. In a process she's called "pain to purpose", Ms Grauf has now released her book, Secrets to Baby Loss, A Guide for the Whole Family. She said the idea for a book came through the journal she was writing. "When we were stuck in the hospital, I was faced with a lot of different challenges," Mrs Grauf said. "I spoke about it quite openly so I could heal." With no guide to help her navigate her grief, Mrs Grauf went searching for answers. "I couldn't find anything [to help] that grabbed my attention, that was visual, that was unique, that was a step-by-step guide," Mrs Grauf said. As she was holding her dying daughter in her arms, and felt her last breath of air leave her tiny body, Mrs Grauf said she was winded by her own grief. "It was the same breath-work technique I'd used [as an instructor] helping people through trauma," she said. "It hit me quite hard, and I thought to myself, I need to help others, I need to live for her." Mrs Grauf said it was the small things, such as daily breath work, nature walks, Pilates, and swimming in the surf that "saved her". "I believe she was a gift and here for a purpose," she said. Since losing Pixie-Rose, the couple has welcomed another baby. Three-month-old Bear was born on February 13. "Nothing is ever going to replace your child," Mrs Grauf said. (Data from the Australian and New Zealand Child Death Review and Prevention Group)
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aussies warned against 'prohibited' act causing major beach damage
Beachgoers have been accused of a damaging act that is putting the local ecosystem at risk as many attempt to catch a glimpse of the wild conditions brought by Ex-Cyclone Alfred. People are now being urged to stay far away from the sand dunes, which have taken a recent battering along the Aussie coastline. Photos show despite widespread beaches closures, visitors have been sighted walking atop the delicate dune systems, and volunteers have said while climbing and jumping off the eroded dunes may seem "harmless fun", it has the potential to be dangerous and cause even greater dune collapse. They are incredibly important in holding sand in place, creating a natural flood barrier, a buffer for wind erosion and are a nesting ground for native birds and endangered turtles. "Please help protect our eroded dunes and the turtle nests in them," Coolum and North Shore Coast Care shared online. "Some nests are only a metre or so from the edge and we are monitoring them closely. "Vegetation is so important to hold the sand in place and the turtle eggs safe until they hatch." It comes as Sunshine Coast's Beach Matters president Rachael Bermingham told Yahoo News a cluster of endangered loggerhead turtle nests were recently rescued at the edge of an escarpment created by massive swells at Peregian Beach, near Noosa. READ MORE: 🌀 Cyclone Alfred live updates "One of our locals called it in, and turtle volunteers swung into action," she told Yahoo. "It really does highlight the immense work volunteers do to get endangered loggerhead turtle numbers up. "Please remember dunes are protected and prohibited. Stay off them, they are very fragile and take a long time to recover." Across large stretches of the east coast either side of the Queensland-NSW border, photos show drop offs as steep as six metres where the damaging waves have ripped the sand away from the beach and washed it away. It's not the first time irresponsible visitors have been blasted in the area for bad behaviour on the dunes, with Yahoo reporting in January e-bike tracks were spotted on Peregian Beach. 4WDs have also been called out for the "tremendous damage" their reckless behaviour is inflicting on wildlife. Bermingham echoed comments made by University of the Sunshine Coast's Dr Javier Leon who earlier told Yahoo News the dunes could take "years" to recover. "Our greatest concern is what is to come in terms of the swell, waves, wind," she told Yahoo. "The beaches have copped an absolute flogging all along the coastline. It will take a few years for these beaches to come back to their pre-cyclone state". Bermingham believes "a lot of people don't know" that dunes and their vegetation are protected. "People are inadvertently sitting on protected dunes which is making them more fragile and compromising them more," she said. "Because the dunes have eroded so badly, we're seeing lots of turtle nests at high risk and relocate them on the fly," Bermingham said. "[Volunteers] have done an outstanding job in the most ridiculous of conditions to jump into gear and save the eggs and relocate them to areas where they are not so at risk." Safer conditions look like sheltered areas with plenty of vegetation on higher ground and out of the way of large ocean swells. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aussies warned against 'harmless' act causing major beach damage
Beachgoers have been accused of a damaging act that is putting the local ecosystem at risk as many attempt to catch a glimpse of the wild conditions brought by Ex-Cyclone Alfred. People are now being urged to stay far away from the sand dunes, which have taken a recent battering along the Aussie coastline. Photos show despite widespread beaches closures, visitors have been sighted walking atop the delicate dune systems, and volunteers have said while climbing and jumping off the eroded dunes may seem "harmless fun", it has the potential to be dangerous and cause even greater dune collapse. They are incredibly important in holding sand in place, creating a natural flood barrier, a buffer for wind erosion and are a nesting ground for native birds and endangered turtles. "Please help protect our eroded dunes and the turtle nests in them," Coolum and North Shore Coast Care shared online. "Some nests are only a metre or so from the edge and we are monitoring them closely. "Vegetation is so important to hold the sand in place and the turtle eggs safe until they hatch." It comes as Sunshine Coast's Beach Matters president Rachael Bermingham told Yahoo News a cluster of endangered loggerhead turtle nests were recently rescued at the edge of an escarpment created by massive swells at Peregian Beach, near Noosa. READ MORE: 🌀 Cyclone Alfred live updates "One of our locals called it in, and turtle volunteers swung into action," she told Yahoo. "It really does highlight the immense work volunteers do to get endangered loggerhead turtle numbers up. "Please remember dunes are protected and prohibited. Stay off them, they are very fragile and take a long time to recover." Across large stretches of the east coast either side of the Queensland-NSW border, photos show drop offs as steep as six metres where the damaging waves have ripped the sand away from the beach and washed it away. It's not the first time irresponsible visitors have been blasted in the area for bad behaviour on the dunes, with Yahoo reporting in January e-bike tracks were spotted on Peregian Beach. 4WDs have also been called out for the "tremendous damage" their reckless behaviour is inflicting on wildlife. Bermingham echoed comments made by University of the Sunshine Coast's Dr Javier Leon who earlier told Yahoo News the dunes could take "years" to recover. "Our greatest concern is what is to come in terms of the swell, waves, wind," she told Yahoo. "The beaches have copped an absolute flogging all along the coastline. It will take a few years for these beaches to come back to their pre-cyclone state". Bermingham believes "a lot of people don't know" that dunes and their vegetation are protected. "People are inadvertently sitting on protected dunes which is making them more fragile and compromising them more," she said. "Because the dunes have eroded so badly, we're seeing lots of turtle nests at high risk and relocate them on the fly," Bermingham said. "[Volunteers] have done an outstanding job in the most ridiculous of conditions to jump into gear and save the eggs and relocate them to areas where they are not so at risk." Safer conditions look like sheltered areas with plenty of vegetation on higher ground and out of the way of large ocean swells. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
