We realised my 3-year-old was missing at a family party – we thought she’d been abducted, the truth was even worse
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LOSING a child is every parent's worst nightmare, and one mum has bravely recounted her experience to warn other parents. Kirsty Doig shared how the hardest day of her life ended up giving her purpose once again. Speaking on Made by Mammas: The Podcast, Kirsty shared her family's story.
![[Kirsty Doig revealed how the loss of her daughter Darcey inspired her to spread positivity through her work]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/darcey-elizabeth-sunshine-doig-permission-963945925.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
"I'm a mum to three little ones, two still here," the Scot told podcast listeners. While she is now living in Scotland with her "two very rambunctious sons," Kirsty was living in South Africa when tragedy struck. "We had a little boy who was not loving school, not loving his environment," she explained.
![[Toddler in yellow polka dot swimsuit carrying a boogie board on a sandy beach.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/darcey-elizabeth-sunshine-doig-permission-963945906.jpg?strip=all&w=718)
Hoping to offer their children a more active and outdoorsy childhood, the couple "took the leap" and moved continents. They're older son was already in school while their daughter Darcey was one and their younger son Lachlan was born two months after their move.
![[Girl standing on rock at beach with mountains in background.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/c2fbf8e1-77e9-4ae8-9ff7-8a96aed9e0cc.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
Kirsty described their new lives as "love at first sight" and said "everything about it felt almost immediately like home.". Three years later, they were settled and hosting family from back home during the South African summer. On February 14, they were enjoying "the most beautiful summer's day" by the pool in their garden with family.
![[Four children in yellow Darcey Sunshine Foundation t-shirts on a beach with plush toys.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/darcey-sunshine-foundation-supplied-credit-963945920.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
She recalled how her eldest's sons school friends had been over earlier in the afternoon, meeting his cousins. Chillingly, that day the adults had been discussing how "all we have to do is just keep them alive" in relation to their kids. Once some of the party had left, the family were looking forward to a relaxing evening in the sun.
![[Instructor teaching children to swim using flotation devices.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/darcey-sunshine-foundation-supplied-credit-963945909.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
