An inspirational mum from Killyleagh has written a book of poems as a tribute to her son who died following an attack outside a pub.
Jayne Macrae started to write poetry to help cope after the death of her son, Ryan, and now she has put them into a book to raise funds for the intensive care unit where he died.
Musician Ryan Macrae was attacked by two men who waited on him as he walked home from a bar in Portaferry in October 2018. The 32 year-old died nine days later from brain injuries in the intensive care unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Within days of her son’s two killers being jailed, his mother Jayne put pen to paper in poetic tribute to her son… and now a commercial sponsor has come on board to help her publish her work as a final tribute to Ryan.
And in the process Jayne will be raising much-needed funds for the charity REVIVE which helps the intensive care unit at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, where Ryan lost his fight for life.
Jayne said: “I have written this book of poems in the hope I can raise some funding for the charity REVIVE, a charity that supports patients, relatives and staff by providing new and improved facilities for I.C.U in the Royal Victoria Hospital.
“Ryan lost his battle for life in this unit and succumbed to his injuries nine days after entering I.C.U. He had been treated with the best care imaginable by all nursing staff, doctors and consultants.
“Every one of these poems I have written is personal to me, all drawing from my own experience. My sister, Lynn, told me I should write down my thoughts on paper as a means of channeling my grief and in dealing with events in my life. I can honestly say, by doing this, it has helped me in so many ways.”
It was Jayne’s poignant poetic tribute to her son, written in the days after the sentencing of his killers last month, that drew such a heart-warming response on Facebook, and following encouragement from the village’s DUP councillor, William Walker, to publish them.
Cllr Billy Walker said: “I had seen Jayne posting some lovely poems about her late son. It was her way of coping with what happened. I encouraged her to put them into a book and suggested she could help a charity.
“I am pleased to have helped get her find a sponsor and to see the book published. I hope the villages of Portaferry and Killyleagh rally round Jayne while helping this very good cause.”
The local cpuncillor stepped in and helped line up a commercial sponsor, Mr Dennis Lynn of Finnebrogue Artisan.
Jayne added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Denis Lynn from Finnebrogue in sponsoring me and also Councillor Billy Walker for getting me started on the tribute and having faith in me to produce this book of poems.”
