On the 4th March 2011, Markos, Jonah and I lost a baby girl. Born sleeping at 32 weeks, we named her Phoebe Willow. She looked perfect; had thick curly hair, long fingers and she was oh so very beautiful. Words cannot begin to describe the emotions of losing a child, our life will never be the same again and there will always be a gap in our family from the loss of our daughter and Jonah will never know the joy of having a little sister.

 

We regularly question the 'what ifs', 'whys' and 'its not fair' feelings but know that we need to be positive in honouring Phoebe and make sure that she impacts upon the world by helping us to raise awareness and to support research and charities working with other families who find themselves in this situation.

 

Losing a child is obviously a devastating blow and nothing can prepare you for that time, but Markos and I were amazed by the love, care, attention and support we recieved from our local hospital and in particular from the resources provided by the Teardrop support charity. www.teardropsupportgroup.co.uk

 

Teardrop funds a specially designated room at Wansbeck Hospital, the Willow room, for families delivering stillborn babies. This room is decorated and furnished to feel as least like a hospital room as possible, has a sofa bed for dads, nice toiletries in the bathroom and masses of reading material; both topic related and time-wasting novels! In addition the charity provides families with memory boxes, flash sticks to use with the room's digital camera and then take home with you, a printer for your pictures,clothes for your baby, clay casts for hand and footprints etc. The charity also funds a bereavement midwife and has recently raised money for a cold mattress which is used inside a moses basket to help 'preserve' the infant. They also provide monthly support groups in Ashington and North Shields (which I attend), as well as having SANDs trained befrienders.

 

For those of you we see regularly, Markos and I could, and do, rave for hours about how amazing the support and facilities were and this was made possible due to Teardrop.

 

So, I decided that I would like to raise money to continue this amazing work. I felt that it needed to be a fitting testiment to my only daughter and something which she would be proud of her mother for achieving. I therefore decided against a sponsored cake eat, and thought something physical and as such more of a personal challenge, would be a more appropriate way to mark the way in which she has touched, and will continue to touch, my life.

 

On the 10th September 2011 myself, Ruth Colmer and Katherine Walcot will be attempting the Kielder Challenge. This challenge is to cover the 26miles around Kielder Water in less than 10hours. The terrain is quite undulating and is not merely a nice stroll around a lake!! This will be a tough day for me physically and emotionally but I hope and pray that we will manage to complete the challenge and more importantly demonstrate how special Phoebe is in my life.

 

I ask you to please give generously: not just to support us, but to also demonstrate that Phoebe is not just important to Markos and I but also to you, to maybe stand in solidarity with families who are or will also be in this situation, or maybe just out of pure relief that your own children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews were born screaming.

 

Thank you so much for your donation. Thanks also go to Katherine and Ruth who will coerce me around the course and more importantly who stand alongside us in this tragedy and who have always been with us through the highs and lows of life. Markos and I feel so blessed to have them in our lives.

 

Georgina

 

Teardrop is a voluntary organisation under the auspices of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. It is affiliated to Sands (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) and supports bereaved parents and relatives of babies who have been lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or termination of pregnancy because of fetal abnormality. Any monies donated through this Just Giving page will automatically be re-directed into Teardrop's accounts and will only be used to support other families in this situation.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.