THE SKYLA PROJECT: A LEGACY OF LOVE AND RESCUE

In early 2022, Nic shared his idea with his friends and neighbours, Kieran Naylor and Rebecca Foster. Nic and the couple became friends when they purchased the Daresbury home from his parents who had downsized to a property next door. The couple, together for ten years and known for their love of animals, instantly offered to sponsor the project. Both animal lovers with pets of their own, they were excited to help make Nic’s vision a reality. At the time, Kieran and Rebecca were also busy renovating their “forever home”. They planned to live there with their dog Skye and cat Nyla and had recently celebrated their engagement and were due to marry in Cyprus in 2024.

But in the early hours of 12th December 2022, tragedy struck. A fire broke out at their home on Delph Lane, Daresbury. A call was made to 999 and after initial attempts to rescue the couple by the parents of Nic Brennan, once firefighters arrived they faced brutal conditions—it was the middle of winter with freezing weather. So cold that inverted icicles formed on the ladders and water from the hoses froze solid on the ground, turning the rescue into a fight not just against the fire but also against the elements.

Rebecca and Kieran were eventually pulled from an upstairs window. Both had suffered devastating injuries from the blaze. Kieran was unresponsive and unable to breathe on his own for half an hour, while Rebecca required repeated CPR attempts for around an hour before her heartbeat was restored. The couple were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Rebecca tragically passed away one day later, on 13th December, from a hypoxic brain injury caused by smoke inhalation. Kieran fought bravely for two weeks, undergoing multiple operations, but died on Boxing Day from multi-organ failure after sustaining burns over 60% of his body. 

Their beloved pets, Skye and Nyla—“like their children,” according to Rebecca’s dad—also perished in the fire and unfortunately were not recovered from the scene.

The tragedy devastated both families. John Foster, Rebecca’s dad, said: “They were massively in love. They spent all of their time together. This house was meant to be their forever home. Kieran’s family added: “Kieran really was the best son, stepson, brother and uncle that anyone could have wished for… Kieran and Rebecca are now reunited forever and they will always be in our hearts.”

In the aftermath, Rebecca's parents & sister Kellie along with Kieran's Dad and Stepmum Kim, felt determined to honour the couple’s memory and pledged to support Nic’s project.

“There felt like no better way to honour Kieran and Rebecca than to carry through with their promise to support the Skyla Project,” said Paul Naylor, Kieran’s dad. “For my family and I to be able to organise and take part in a lot of fundraising events along with Rebecca’s parents and family, it helped to bring us together and gave us a purpose in a time of such grief.”

Since 2023, their families and friends have thrown themselves into fundraising efforts, from rugby matches and pram races to raffles and an annual fundraising event hosted by Rebecca's aunt and uncle, Bib and Gary Brown. By September 2025, they had raised an incredible £10,000, enough to begin production on the Small Animal Rescue kits for fire appliances in Cheshire and purchase specialised training mannequins—the CasPeR CPR Dog and Ruth Lee™ Dog Training Mannequins—to help Cheshire firefighters practice life-saving skills.

 “Our daughter Rebecca was a huge animal lover so it was no surprise to find out that along with Kieran they had pledged their support to Nic on this project,” said Denise Foster, Rebecca’s mum. “It felt fitting to see this through on their behalf and to also have the project named after Skye and Nyla is something I know Rebecca would be overwhelmed by.”

In recognition of their generosity and their enduring love for animals, Nic—with the support of Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service—renamed the initiative The Skyla Project, combining the names of Skye and Nyla. With the help of The Willows Vet Group, the project has already begun to deliver pet first aid and CPR training to Cheshire firefighters, with ambitions to expand to services across the North-West and beyond.

 “Initially this project was close to my heart due to having pets my whole life and with the financial backing of my friends Kieran and Rebecca, it was something I was excited to begin work on,” said Nic Brennan. “It has been a lot to process given the inconceivable elements of the whole situation. The fact that it was my watch who was one of the first in attendance at the fire, the home was my childhood home and the people in desperate need of our help were my friends. Following their deaths in December 2022 and the generous, selfless offer by their families to continue to support the project it has taken on a whole new meaning. It has been a privilege to work alongside the families on the fundraising especially while they navigate through their grief. Kieran and Rebecca, along with their pets Skye and Nyla, have been in my thoughts throughout working on this project and I am looking forward to its launch very soon.”