Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare — and for Ashley Cain and Safiyya Vorajee, it became an unbearable reality when their baby daughter Azaylia Diamond Cain died aged just eight months.
Now, almost five years on, the former couple have reunited to speak openly about the pain of facing another Christmas without her — and how grief, separation, and life moving forward have reshaped them both forever.
Azaylia was born in August 2020, but just two months later she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia. Despite desperate treatment attempts, she passed away in April 2021, with both parents at her bedside.
Their relationship could not survive the devastation, and the pair split 11 months later in March 2022. Yet even after going their separate ways, they remain bound by a shared loss that will never fade.
Safiyya, 34, admits the festive season continues to reopen wounds she works hard to manage.
“We all navigate grief differently,” she explains. “This wave — especially after Halloween, when you see children playing together — has been really, really difficult for me.
“As it rolls into Christmas, the nights feel particularly hard. Even when I try to put those feelings aside, it doesn’t stop the pain.”
Ashley, 35, echoes her words with quiet understanding.
“Every single day is difficult for a parent who’s lost a child,” he says. “Safiyya understands what I’m going through, and I understand her — because we walked that journey together.”
A Shared Mission Born From Loss
Despite their breakup, Ashley and Safiyya have continued working side by side to honour their daughter’s legacy through The Azaylia Foundation, which supports children battling cancer.
The charity provides funding for treatments not covered by the NHS, donates to research into childhood cancers, and raises awareness of what remains one of the UK’s biggest child health killers.
As part of that mission, Ashley has pushed his body to extremes, completing punishing endurance challenges to raise funds — including an Ultraman event in 2024 that saw him run, cycle and kayak more than 3,000 miles, effectively covering the length of the UK three times.
“I spend a lot of time alone,” Ashley explains. “When I’m running, when I’m out at sea, that’s when I carry the pain most — because I think about it constantly.”
Yet he insists he never wants sympathy.
“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me,” he says. “I’m the most blessed man in the world to have been chosen to be Azaylia’s dad.
“I never think, ‘Why me?’ I will live the rest of my life carrying that blessing and trying to make a difference because of her.”
‘She Made Me a Better Man’
Ashley says fatherhood — even for such a heartbreakingly short time — changed him forever.
“She made me a better man, a better human being, a better father,” he says. “And I want to honour her by the work I do now. Safiyya is doing the same — tirelessly.”
Looking ahead, Ashley is already planning another gruelling challenge to mark the fifth anniversary of Azaylia’s death and the Foundation’s creation.
In September next year, he hopes to break the world record for pulling a 1.5-tonne truck for 24 hours straight.
“It represents trauma, grief, stress,” he explains. “I want to show people that no matter the weight you’re carrying, you don’t have to move on from it — you can move on with it.”
Safiyya says watching Ashley’s determination fills her with pride.
“If you’ve had to hold your daughter as she takes her last breath, and then lay her to rest,” she says quietly, “you find a deeper power inside you. That becomes your superpower.”
Life After Loss — But Never Without Her
In January 2024, Ashley became a father again, welcoming a son, Aliyas, with a close friend. Later that year, he welcomed a second son, Atlas. He has never confirmed whether the boys share the same mother.
Safiyya, meanwhile, revealed in June that she has found love again with a new partner.
But despite moving forward separately, both agree that Azaylia will always bind them together.
“With me and him,” Safiyya says, “even after everything we’ve been through, Azaylia left behind a love that we can channel into something bigger than us.”
As they face another Christmas without her, that bond — forged through unimaginable pain — remains unbreakable.
