On the 19th April 2018 our world stopped, our hearts shattered in to a million pieces never to fully form again.  While at home I suffered a spontaneous uterine rupture, something that happens to less than 0.07% of pregnant ladies in the UK.  By the time I was rushed in to hospital I was told the words that no one can ever prepare themselves to hear, 'I'm sorry but there is no heartbeat.'  After an emergency operation our daughter Lola was stillborn, 5lb8oz. She was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen, perfectly formed in every way, literally nothing wrong with her in any way, shape or form  -  yet -  she was still - she wasn't alive.

I'd carried Lola safely inside myself for a full 9 months, we were so ready for her to arrive and we couldn't wait for the chaotic life of juggling a newborn and a toddler and having our house bursting to the seams with love. 

Instead, the unthinkable happened and we were thrust in to a life that will always be vacant with a Lola shaped hole. 

In the early days it was a struggle to get out of bed, although slowly I have tried to put one foot in front of the other and decided that I wanted to do something in Lola's memory.  A friend suggested the Great South Run (10 miles!) and at first I was hesitant as I HATE running, but I knew that I needed to do something for my mental wellbeing.  After a chat here and there with friends and family, I have managed to recruit a group to join me and there will be 14 of us running in Lola's memory and to raise money for Tommy's who fund research in to stillbirth and miscarriage.

So please do support us if you can, we would love to fund research and as a result if this research could prevent this happening again, to just one baby, then I'd be happy.  Let's come together and raise awareness that even the rarest occurrences do indeed happen and need to be considered as a real possiblity right from the begining, rather than swept under the rug as something that 'doesn't happen'.

Thanks so much,

Team Lola - Alison and Cameron Rutherford, Mark and Alice Lee, Anna-Marie and Andy Hambleton, Candy and Tom Hovey, Ricky Burr, Elena Hernandez, Houssna Ourais, Richard Hollex, Abi Newman, Phil Reynolds

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