The little boy who smiled through unthinkable suffering until the day he died

When little Lincoln Stoddard was born prematurely at just 24 weeks old, he was so tiny he could fit in the palm of his mother's hand. Tragically, the happy little baby - known affectionately as 'Linky Loo' - survived only two short years.

He passed away five days after his second birthday. He suffered a multitude of health complications and caught Covid while battling each and every day. Lincoln always had a smile on his face.

When he contracted coronavirus, his parents suspected it was the 'beginning of the end'. He took his final breaths with his heartbroken mum and dad - Shaunie and Jordan - by his side.

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The couple, from Eccles, Salford, have two daughters - Meadow, now six; and Harleigh, now three. They found out they were expecting once again the day after they tied the knot, on February 23, 2020.

"When I had Harleigh I had a placenta abruption and although it could have happened again, it wasn’t a particularly high chance," Shaunie told the Manchester Evening News.

"But it happened with Lincoln and he was born at 24 weeks at Saint Mary’s Hospital. I’d gone into labour and then they did an emergency section. He was only 560g, he was the size of the palm of my hand."

Lincoln then spent 184 days at Saint Mary’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), during which time he had several surgeries for a bowel perforation; laser eye surgery for retinopathy of prematurity, where blood vessels in the eye grow abnormally; and to have a Hickman line fitted so medical teams could more easily administer medication.

His parents were given the devastating news that he had bleeds to the brain and cerebral palsy. After his stay in NICU, Lincoln was