Mesa mom turns grief into action with donation fundraiser

0 January 22, 2026 00:50

A Mesa mother is turning her grief into a gift to help families facing loss.

Kerry Murphy’s son, Grant Jr., was born on Nov. 4, 2025, at 8:52 a.m., weighing eight pounds and one ounce.

“He was a big chunky boy,” Murphy said. “Honestly a lot of the doctors didn’t expect for him to make it to the delivery.”

Grant Jr. was born at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, but was quickly hooked up to a breathing tube due to complications. He was taken to the NICU unit at Phoenix Children’s but passed the next day. Murphy only got to hold him for a short time.

“I didn’t get to spend a night with him,” Murphy said. “To be able to go to sleep and wake up to still see my baby is something that I’ll never get, so it’s the hardest thing for me.”

During the interview, Murphy was holding a teddy bear containing a recording of Grant Jr.’s first cry, wishing she could be embracing her firstborn son instead.

Murphy wanted to hold her son for as long as possible. She asked doctors if they had a CuddleCot, but they did not.

A CuddleCot is a device that preserves the body of an infant by using a specialized cooling blanket, giving parents hours and sometimes even days to say goodbye.

“I got my day and a half with him, which is more than I could have ever asked for in the world,” Murphy said.

She doesn’t want other parents to have so little time with their baby. Murphy is raising money through a GoFundMe to donate a CuddleCot to Phoenix Children’s for other parents to use.

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