Thank you for visiting my donation page. I write this page with mixed emotions. 

In August 2019, my wife and I found out that we were expecting our first child. It was one of the happiest days of our lives and we were looking forward to becoming proud parents.

During our 16 week scan the doctors had diagnosed our baby with a condition called Omphalocele, which meant that our baby would have needed to undergo a number of operations after birth to rectify the condition. My wife and I were fully prepared to do whatever it took to ensure our baby would have the best life possible. Here is a link that gives more information about the condition (1 in 5000 case):

https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/exomphalos

We then had the worst day of our lives a couple of weeks later. Tragically our baby did not survive and at 21 weeks we were given the news "there's no heartbeat". The news shattered all of our hopes and dreams within a second and the pain was beyond measure. We wanted a baby, but God delivered us an angel instead on Saturday 14th December 2019. 

My wife took to motherhood so naturally and gave unconditional love to our baby throughout. We could only hold our baby for a short while, but we will hold him in our hearts forever.

We named our son Phoenix Patel. We believe that our son will rise from the ashes and will be reborn. He will always be loved and never forgotten.

Our family and friends provided us with the strength to carry on through this life changing event. The charity group called Sands also provided us with amazing support during the lowest point of our lives. 

Sands is a charity that both supports parents and families grieving the loss of a baby, and funds research to prevent further stillbirths and neonatal deaths. We have attended Sands events and found the support to be invaluable and we were also given items to create everlasting memories of our baby (E.g. small teddy bears and blanket in my main picture above).

I will be running in the biggest obstacle course in the world on Saturday 9th May 2020 to raise money for the Sands charity because I believe in their vision. 

"A world where fewer babies die and when a baby does die, anyone affected receives the best possible care and support for as long as its needed"

The race is 20 miles long with 200 obstacles. Each obstacle that I tackle, will represent the emotions and challenges parents face when losing a child. 

Here is a link to the event: 

https://ratracedirtyweekend.co.uk/obstacles/

My wife and I would really appreciate if you could donate to the Sands charity, so other parents can continue to be supported in their real time of need. 

Helping others isn't a chore; it is one of the greatest gifts there is.