Advocacy and Community Engagement
This year's PSQ advocacy focus is paediatric palliative care, highlighting the importance of equitable, compassionate care for children with life-limiting conditions and support for their families.
Precious Wings
On the 27th June, the Paediatric Society Queensland and friends had the privilege of spending the morning with Kerry Gordon, CEO and Founder of Precious Wings, and Operations Manager Natalie McMaster. We were honoured to learn about the extraordinary work this Queensland charity does to support families experiencing the devastating loss of a child through bereavement support, memory boxes and miscarriage boxes.
As paediatricians, we are privileged to care for children and families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives. One of the most important lessons from the morning was the significance of creating memories in those precious hours and days following a child's death. These opportunities are fleeting, and healthcare professionals play a vital role in ensuring families have the chance to create lasting memories that may become deeply treasured in their grief journey.
Together, we spent the morning assembling memory boxes that are distributed to families in hospitals across Queensland. These thoughtfully curated boxes provide practical tools to help families create precious keepsakes and lasting memories of their child, supporting them through one of the most difficult experiences a parent can endure. Precious Wings currently donates 120–150 memory boxes each month to more than 60 hospitals across the state, with demand continuing to grow. Each box is generously sponsored by a family who has experienced the loss of a child, and the names of those children are included inside every box—a powerful reminder to grieving families that they are not alone.
Importantly, Precious Wings is also introducing memory boxes featuring artwork by Domica Hill, Aboriginal artist who experienced the heartbreaking loss of three children to stillbirth. The artwork reflects both grief and healing, ensuring First Nations families receive culturally meaningful resources while honouring the artist's own journey.
The charity has also recently launched "Legacy Boxes" for adolescents and young adults living with a terminal diagnosis. These boxes provide a framework for young people to create meaningful memories, letters, messages and keepsakes for the family and friends they will leave behind, empowering them to leave a lasting legacy in their own words.
Beyond the memory boxes, Precious Wings facilitates parent and family support groups from its Brisbane headquarters and delivers bereavement education for healthcare professionals. Their website also contains a range of professional resources, including educational videos from bereaved families and practical guidance on introducing and gifting memory boxes to families in hospital.
The Paediatric Society Queensland extends its sincere thanks to Kerry, Natalie and the entire Precious Wings team for welcoming us and for the compassionate work they do every day. Their commitment provides not only practical support, but hope, connection and comfort to families navigating unimaginable loss.
For more information about Precious Wings, their resources, education programs or ways to support their work, please visit Precious Wings.
By Kathryn McMahon
Thank you to the team at Precious Wings for having us, and everyone who came to support that day.
Featured artist
My name is Domica Hill, and I am a proud Palawa woman and contemporary Aboriginal artist who creates from a place of storytelling, connection to Country and lived experience. Country holds our stories, our healing and our strength, and this connection guides everything I do.
I am also a mum to my beautiful babies who have passed, Briar, Huxley and Aurora. Their love lives with me every day and shapes the way I see the world and create. Making this artwork for Precious Wings comes from my heart, as I understand the depth of loss and the quiet strength it takes to carry on. Through my art, I hold space for remembrance, connection and gentle healing, hoping to offer comfort to families who walk this journey.
Dedicated with endless love to my babies, Briar, Huxley and Aurora. Forever held, forever missed, forever my heart.