To see how my marathon training went and how the marathon day went then please go to - http://simonjackson4mo.blogspot.com/

 

The summer of 2009 should have been perfect for Vicki and I, with the impending birth of our first son.  However, things didn't start well for us with Vicki first losing her Grandad followed a few days later by the death of my father (Michael).  We were hoping that the birth of our son would bring back some good to what had been a difficult few weeks for us.

Then on a dreadful Saturday morning, which was the day before Vicki was due to be induced (ie at 42 weeks), she went in for a routine check with the midwife and the heartbeat of our baby boy had stopped. Then after carrying him for 2 more days (cruel I know), Vicki was finally induced and gave birth to our beautiful baby boy Mo Michael Jackson on 24th August 2009.
 
Those few days were the hardest days we could ever imagine.  We had great support from each other, friends, family and the midwives at the hospital but at the time we could probably have not got through it without the support of a charity called SANDS (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity).  They provided us with numerous leaflets and guides for ourselves and our families, hand/footprints/memory boxes, as well as people for us to speak to.  Since then Vicki has met up with the leader of the local group and we have started going to monthly support meetings.

When people see us, people probably think we are over what happened, as normally when we are out we are trying to enjoy ourselves.  We will never get over what has happened to us and we will never forget our first child. We think of Mo the whole time and at the most unexpected time something reminds us of what we could/would have been doing with him if he was with us.  Everywhere there always seems to be young blond haired children, which we know Mo would have looked like.  It is so tough.

We thought we were the most unlucky people in the world, however we realised we were not alone. Every day in the UK 17 children are stillborn or die shortly after birth. SANDS do lots of work in the community and are trying to raise awareness of themselves, as well as training for midwives to know how to deal with Stillborn children.

The 3 core aims of SANDS are;

1 - Support anyone affected by the death of a baby
2 - Work with health professionals to improve the quality of care and services provided to bereaved parents and families
3 - Promote changes in antenatal practise and to fund research that could to reduce the loss of babies lives and the number of families devastated by this tragedy

Because of all of the above, I have decided to run the 2010 London Marathon on 25 April 2010 for North Herts SANDS (they will use some of the money locally and some will go to the national charity). Doing the marathon will not take away the heartache of losing our son but I really would like to give something back to the charity that got us through our darkest days.

Everybody thinks the marathon is just about the gruelling 26.2 mile run around London however I reckon I will train for approx 900 miles which I think will be nearly 100 hours of training before the marathon! For example I got up this morning at 5am and I started running at 5.10am in the rain before going to work. By asking early for your sponsorship I really think this could help and motivate me to train for this great event through winter months when most of my training will be in the dark and in the cold and/or the wet.

To let you know what I am doing, training, racing or whatever I can think of which is Mo or marathon related why not look at my blog http://simonjackson4mo.blogspot.com/

Anyway back to the important thing - donating through Justgiving is quick, easy, totally secure and will only take a few minutes. Its also the most efficient way to sponsor me. SANDS get your money faster and if you are a UK tax payer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid plus a 3% supplement are added to your donation. 

Hopefully by doing the London Marathon I will do Mo and my Dad proud.

Many thanks
Simon

http://www.northhertssands.moonfruit.com/

http://www.uk-sands.org/Home.html