Anthony Ellis
Tony's page
Fundraising for Abigail's Footsteps
Story
Last year my wife, Joanne, and I were delighted to find out that we were to become parents after having to go through IVF due to the effects of medication from my kidney transplant in 2011..
After a textbook pregnancy coasted through by Joanne, and a very judicious approach to diet and exercise by her, our little boy, Cooper, was to be born in December 2017. The nursery painted and readied for his arrival, the clothing purchased, the pushchair assembled and the nappies stockpiled, we settled in for Christmas and the joy that was to await just days later.
Sadly, that joy was not to be. On the 28th December our beautiful little boy, Cooper Baxter Ellis, was devastatingly stillborn at Medway Maritime Hospital.
The aftermath of stillbirth is a strange and necessarily difficult time. The perceived high of what is to come is crushed by the devastating low of what is the new reality of dealing with losing a child. Fortunately for Joanne and I, the fall was cushioned by the wonderful help of Abigail's Footsteps and the team at Medway Hospital.
Thanks to the help of Abigail's Footsteps we were able to stay with Cooper in the Bereavement Suite they provided at Medway Maritime Hospital. Joanne and I were able to keep Cooper in a cold cot, again, provided by Abigail's Footsteps. We were able to have time to grieve, to hold Cooper, to feel like a family and to bond with Cooper before we said our goodbyes to our precious boy. The gift of that time that we we spent is one of immeasurable value to us and to the rest of our family who were able to meet Cooper because of this facility.
So, the fundraising...
I am going to row, on a Concept 2 rower, in a single session, the 20.7miles (33Km) equivalent to a channel crossing from Dover to Calais.
Why not do the real thing? I am not unhinged, that's why. I would also cause untold danger to the freight traffic of the Channel not to mention my lack of direction causing an inevitable drift into the Pacific Gyre never to be seen again.
In the spirit of authenticity I will, however, be regularly splashed with briny water and slapped with a Herring.
I will be undertaking this task in August with a final date to be set.
This will be a major undertaking for me as someone who is genetically predisposed to avoid exercise but I want to do something to help this charity and to commemorate Cooper. Hopefully we can raise enough money to find a cold cot for another hospital so that other families can, in the worst of circumstances, benefit from the time it can give them with their sadly lost child.
After a textbook pregnancy coasted through by Joanne, and a very judicious approach to diet and exercise by her, our little boy, Cooper, was to be born in December 2017. The nursery painted and readied for his arrival, the clothing purchased, the pushchair assembled and the nappies stockpiled, we settled in for Christmas and the joy that was to await just days later.
Sadly, that joy was not to be. On the 28th December our beautiful little boy, Cooper Baxter Ellis, was devastatingly stillborn at Medway Maritime Hospital.
The aftermath of stillbirth is a strange and necessarily difficult time. The perceived high of what is to come is crushed by the devastating low of what is the new reality of dealing with losing a child. Fortunately for Joanne and I, the fall was cushioned by the wonderful help of Abigail's Footsteps and the team at Medway Hospital.
Thanks to the help of Abigail's Footsteps we were able to stay with Cooper in the Bereavement Suite they provided at Medway Maritime Hospital. Joanne and I were able to keep Cooper in a cold cot, again, provided by Abigail's Footsteps. We were able to have time to grieve, to hold Cooper, to feel like a family and to bond with Cooper before we said our goodbyes to our precious boy. The gift of that time that we we spent is one of immeasurable value to us and to the rest of our family who were able to meet Cooper because of this facility.
So, the fundraising...
I am going to row, on a Concept 2 rower, in a single session, the 20.7miles (33Km) equivalent to a channel crossing from Dover to Calais.
Why not do the real thing? I am not unhinged, that's why. I would also cause untold danger to the freight traffic of the Channel not to mention my lack of direction causing an inevitable drift into the Pacific Gyre never to be seen again.
In the spirit of authenticity I will, however, be regularly splashed with briny water and slapped with a Herring.
I will be undertaking this task in August with a final date to be set.
This will be a major undertaking for me as someone who is genetically predisposed to avoid exercise but I want to do something to help this charity and to commemorate Cooper. Hopefully we can raise enough money to find a cold cot for another hospital so that other families can, in the worst of circumstances, benefit from the time it can give them with their sadly lost child.